Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: rx4200 on August 06, 2012, 06:54 pm

Title: Latest News!! Online shop Silk Road sells $2m worth of drugs a month!!
Post by: rx4200 on August 06, 2012, 06:54 pm
****CLEAR NET WARNING****
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/08/silk-road-bitcoin-illegal.html
13:48 6 August 2012


New analysis of the anonymous online marketplace Silk Road suggests that purveyors of illegal drugs and other black-market goods are raking in the equivalent of nearly $2 million of Bitcoins per month, which is roughly 20 per cent of exchanges from Bitcoins to US dollars that take place on the online currency's main exchange, Mt. Gox.

Try flogging narcotics on eBay and you will quickly be shut down, banned and possibly visited by your local law enforcement agencies. Silk Road gets away with its illicit trade because buyers and sellers can connect to the site only through the anonymising Tor network, also used by the likes of Wikileaks and political dissidents, and can make purchases using only Bitcoin.

Security researcher Nicolas Christin at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, analysed the site every day from February to July this year, gathering data on its operations. He discovered that a few hundred sellers offering a range of drugs including cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy are earning an average total of 11,650 Bitcoins per day. In comparison, Mt. Gox swaps an average 59,980 Bitcoins into dollars each day.

Converting Silk Road's revenue into dollars will always be inexact, as dollar/Bitcoin exchange rates are highly volatile, but Christin places it at $1.9 million per month. Fees on each transaction mean Silk Road's shadowy owners are probably earning $143,000 a month for running the site.

Christin suggests various ways of stemming the tide of illegal drugs from Silk Road, such as attacking the Tor network or improving drug agency monitoring of the postal networks, but Bitcoin seems to offer the most promising route. While single Bitcoin transactions can be anonymous, previous research has shown that network analysis can be used to identify individuals.

Exchanges like Mt. Gox are also a vulnerability, as demonstrated last year when a hack caused the currency to collapse, and this would make it hard for Silk Road transactions to continue. Of course, there is always the possibility of intercepting individual customers, as the Australian police say they did last week.

Journal reference: arXiv:1207.7139v1
Title: Re: Latest News!! Online shop Silk Road sells $2m worth of drugs a month!!
Post by: kryptoz on August 06, 2012, 07:01 pm
Jesus fucking christ, can reporters PLEASE stop posting stupid shit like this.

1. this is why we have so many scammers now
2. more plubicity like this = shitty public opinions
3. more LEA's.
Title: Re: Latest News!! Online shop Silk Road sells $2m worth of drugs a month!!
Post by: BanWork on August 06, 2012, 07:20 pm
Jesus fucking christ, can reporters PLEASE stop posting stupid shit like this.

1. this is why we have so many scammers now
2. more plubicity like this = shitty public opinions
3. more LEA's.
4. I need to sell drugs.

Fact is these stories will never end, there is nothing anyone can do about it. The fascinating thing for me is how the SR will adapt to deal with this inevitable attention. I love SR and I think whoever is running the show has some serious grey matter and melon size testicles... I have every faith that whatever storms pass overhead, the shelter that is the SR will keep us all dry and warm :)
Title: Re: Latest News!! Online shop Silk Road sells $2m worth of drugs a month!!
Post by: kryptoz on August 06, 2012, 07:28 pm
We need a reporter who isn't getting butt-raped by the gov who can actually report the truth. Unfortunately, that's not possible