Forewarning: This will mostly be an intro/extrospective post, with a few walls of text. That is not to say it won't be interesting.
Money is amoral. It is neither inherently good, nor inherently bad. Drugs and the internet also share this characteristic.
Money has taken many forms in the past few 30 years. Actual paper, check, credit card, NFC tap cards, phone NFC cards, and Bitcoin. I believe we all agree here, that these are all various types of currency, and each has valid use.
However, the spending styles, and thought processes associated to each of these currencies, differs greatly.
Take for example, paper to credit card. When credit card first stared to become wildly accepted, buisenesses, especially fast food like McDonalds, started to report people would buy more when compared to cash purchases. Many studies where conducted, and found that those using credit cards were far more disengaged to the actual amount of money they spent was. Therefore, it became far easier to say yes to that tacked on extra dollar to make your meal a large, and swipe away any guilt. Businesses found this out, and developed tactics to use this to their advantage, and profited greatly.
Amazon also uses this to their advantage, as there is further disconnect to the amount spent, when shopping online. Click click click, enter a few numbers, and click. Oh, and this item is a great accessory to what you are buying here. You might need it in the future! And boom! Hardly even feels like you spent more money then you intended.
Unfortunately, no research I can find has done theses same studies with Bitcoin. I know they will be done in the future, comparing it to credit and cash. Just a matter of when.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DNM?!?
A short relevant story: I became disengaged to the illegality of my purchases, which is really really bad. There was a situation recently, where I let my guard down, and my actions could have been exposed. I got anxious, my head raced with possibilities, I felt sick, and it sucked. Nothing bad happened, but this event woke me up to this fact: I had forgotten for a moment in time, that ordering drugs online, and possessing them, is illegal and often looked down upon by society.
I am not here to debate the drug war, or point fingers at who is wrong. The fact is, drugs are illegal in many countries right now. From my experience it is very easy to disassociate yourself from the illegality of your actions, because you bought the drugs online.
Why is that bad? It can cause anyone to be less cautious, less aware, and more likely to get caught!
I feel the average darknet user experiences this at some point.
Lesson learned? Never let yourself loose touch with the consequences of your actions.
Extra note: The DNM and it's users should really be more open to anonymous academic analysis. We are still apart of the beginning of the history of the internet. The fall of SR1 will be in history books in the future. The events currently happening will be important too. It is important to document all that us possible, without anyone losing anonymity.
I was having a chat with a user a while ago and we got into this. When you have been using the DNM's for a while you become completely disconnected.
At firs you are nervous an apprehensive, but then when the first few orders arrive it is nothing short of additive. You are browsing sections and ordering things that you never thought in a million lifetimes that you would go near. Click a button, drop in your address and click another button and days later it is at your door. Months later and this is all working so efficiently that you are completely disconnected from the fact that you are now in possession of enough class A substances for significant distribution charges. The you of only a few months ago wouldn't even recognize the person you are today.
It is so easy to lose the paranoia that keeps you safe and become complacent.
At the same time I had an awakening a while ago. These sites will eventually become simple enough to use for absolutely anybody to be able to use them. Do your research online and order any pharmaceutical or drug you'd like and as much of it as you want, delivered straight to your door. No more doctors, street dealers, club dealers, etc. Anything you ever want, quickly and to your door - makes the war on drugs look even more futile than it already is/was.