Chainalysis: coronavirus negatively impacts darknet markets

A sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin amid global panic over the coronavirus reduced activity bydarknet markets. This is stated in the report of the analytical startup Chainalysis.

According to researchers, the fall in the price of BTC had a different effect on various market segments, including trading services and gambling.

Trading services were relatively resistant to price fluctuations. According to analysts, the volume of purchases in this segment did not fall as significantly as some predicted.

Bitcoin price correlation with the total volume of operations on darknet markets, as well as in terms of trading and gambling from July 2019 to March 2020.

The company noticed that the correlation between the priceBitcoin and the use of trading services have fallen by almost 50% since the outbreak of coronavirus. Experts do not exclude that this is due to the closure of many local firms due to a pandemic, as well as the desire of users to minimize the use of banknotes. It is also possible that stability in this sector was ensured by the popularity of services such as web hosting, which require regular payments.

“In the field of gambling, the flow of funds in cryptocurrency has significantly decreased. Also, there is no significant correlation with the price of bitcoin ”, - analysts share observations.

In general, the degree of correlation between activityon darknet markets and at the price of bitcoin, it reached record levels, according to Chainalysis. Among the reasons for the almost synchronous decline in these indicators may be difficulties with logistics for the delivery of illicit substances and fears of darknet sellers that the cryptocurrency they receive will depreciate in the future.

Earlier, Chainalysis experts calculated that, against the backdrop of the March market crash, 5% of all available bitcoins were sold.