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# Bittrex will delist Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH). Here's how each project has responded to the news.

On Jan. 15, Bittrex will delist a number of privacy coins, including Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC). It is not the first exchange to do so, raising many questions about whether privacy cryptocurrencies have a future.

**Why Are Privacy Coins an Issue?**
Privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash primarily provide privacy through shielded addresses. This feature makes transaction amounts and destinations visible only to those who are involved in a given transaction.

Dash works slightly differently; it primarily makes use of a coin mixing feature that obscures transactions by pooling those transactions together.


Regardless of the approach, privacy coins are an issue for exchanges and companies that aim to comply with surveillance regulations such as KYC/AML laws. Though Bittrex didn't cite any specific laws in its announcement, it is likely that its concerns fall into that area, and it probably fears legal repercussions for trading certain coins.

Though this will not prevent individuals from holding each coin, perception of a coin's legal status can change investor sentiment. As a result, each privacy project has tried to reassure investors that its coin is not at risk of further delisting.

**Zcash Says No Reason for Concern**
The Electric Coin Company, which is the parent company of Zcash, has directly responded to Bittrex's decision to delist its cryptocurrency.

The ECC says that there is no regulatory basis for delistings and that Bittrex has given "no reason" for its actions. It also says that Bittrex closed Twitter comments on its announcement and refused to respond to its own inquiries.

"If there is someone or something in the US pressuring crypto businesses into submission and forcing delistings, the US public should know," the ECC states.

It also insists that the issue is limited to certain exchanges, specifically Bittrex and Shapeshift (which delisted privacy coins last November). It adds that many other U.S.-based exchanges including Gemini and Coinbase have expressed support for Zcash. Furthermore, Kraken has explicitly stated that it is not under any regulatory pressure.

If the ECC is correct, it seems unlikely that there will be a wave of delistings in the future.

**Dash Downplays Privacy**
Dash has protested the delisting by downplaying its privacy features. Dash CEO Ryan Taylor claimed on Twitter that Dash's privacy functions are "no greater than Bitcoin’s" and that the term privacy coin is a "misnomer" when it comes to Dash.

Taylor added that Dash is "a literal fork of Bitcoin" and that "all Dash transactions are completely transparent." He also says that Dash's privacy mechanism is "simply a branded implementation" of CoinJoin, a coin mixing method originating in Bitcoin.

Though Taylor's statements are technically true, Dash has previously advertised itself as "the world’s first privacy-centric cryptocurrency." Dash's website now advertises itself as a "payment cryptocurrency," suggesting that it aims to shift its selling point.

Taylor also suggested that Dash is working with legal counsel to prove that it is not an anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrency. He says the project is also willing to work with Bittrex on relisting, providing that the exchange is willing to cooperate.

**Monero Stays Quiet**
Monero has not yet put out an official response to the delisting. However, at least one high-profile member of Monero's development community has responded.

Former project lead Riccardo Spagni stated on Twitter that Bittrex delisted the coins because its compliance officer "didn’t read the Perkins Coie paper and also doesn’t have a backbone." Spagni is referring to a law firm publication from September 2020 that found that privacy coins sufficiently met AML regulations.

Spagni noted elsewhere that a more recent version of Bittrex's announcement indicates that Grin, a minor privacy coin, will be also delisted with the other three coins.

Given that Monero is a community-led project, it is not clear whether it will make any further statements or an official statement on its website or blog.

**Will Privacy Coin Prices Fall?**
Falling privacy coin prices have become a concern. Each coin lost value in the week after the announcement. Over that period, Monero (XMR) lost 16.4% of its value; Zcash (ZEC) lost 9.6% of its value; and Dash (DASH) lost 14.6% of its value.

However, the three coins remain profitable for long-term holders. As of Jan. 7, over the past year, Monero's price has risen by 148.2%, Zcash's price has risen by 101.7%, and Dash's price has risen by 75.8%. Though this is largely due to Bitcoin's performance, the overall market surge should protect the three privacy coins against overall loss.

Finally, assuming that Monero, Zcash, and Dash remain listed on major exchanges, it seems unlikely that further losses will occur in the near future. Given that dozens of exchanges support each coin, the future of each cryptocurrency looks fairly promising.

Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies.



Bittrex Delists Privacy Coins: Monero, Dash, and Zcash Respond

DΛRK▼

# Fraudsters are selling fraudulent fraud guides to wannabee fraudsters.
Almost half of the listings on the most popular underground marketplaces are guides on how to commit fraud, as aspiring cyber criminals look to find out how to conduct business email compromise and other online scams. But there's a twist – many of the how-to guides are useless fakes.

Cybersecurity researchers at Terbium Labs examined listings on three major dark web exchanges and found that 49% of all data being sold consisted of how to guides for online fraud. In many cases, guides are written on how to do this against specific organisations, particularly those in the financial sector. 

Stolen personal data only accounted for 15% of listings, with non-financial accounts and credentials (12.2%), financial accounts and credentials (8.2%), fraud tools and templates (8%) and payment cards (7%) accounting for the rest. The average price for a single personal record was $8.45, while the cost of a single personal record can drop as low as $1.00. 

Credentials available for sale on the sites included usernames and passwords for services ranging from email accounts, streaming services and even food delivery accounts.

The average price for this data is $7 – although in come cases it reaches triple figures – and leaked usernames and passwords, linked to other personal details can provide attackers with a means of compromising the victim's other accounts – potentially even their corporate ones.

Credentials for financial accounts listed on the dark web potentially provide cyber criminals with direct access to bank, payment card and PayPal accounts that have been compromised – and direct access to the funds within. Attackers can either simply steal this money, or alternatively, use the card details to make purchases for themselves, or even set up loans.

The potential for this data proving lucrative means that these accounts command a higher sum that others, with listings in this category selling for an average of $33, but sometimes they can be listed for as high as $500.

Buying guides on how to commit fraud isn't risk-free because some are fraudulent themselves, providing readers with no useful information – and it's not as if the buyer can demand their money back.

"Ironically, many fraud guides are themselves fraudulent. Bad actors create fake guides, and try to make a profit selling them before buyers catch on," said Tyler Carbone, chief strategy officer at Terbium Labs.





Bad news: Dark web sales of fraud guides are booming. Good news: They're useless fakes

# The volume of dark web forum members is on the rise, with visitor numbers surging 44% during the first COVID-19 lockdowns last year, according to new data from Sixgill.

The cyber-intelligence firm analyzed five popular English and Russian language forums to better understand their popularity over time and who is responsible for most activity.

Collating data from the launch of each forum through to the end of 2020, Sixgill found that all five sites had grown their membership exponentially without impacting each other’s popularity.

Although some grew faster than others, and some months were more successful, the overall trend points towards a continued rise in the number of users visiting dark web sites, the firm concluded.

This matters, because as the population of the dark web increases, so does criminal activity, according to Sixgill security research lead, Dov Lerner.

More interesting still was the fact that user numbers soared into double-digits from January to spring 2020, before reverting to pre-COVID numbers.

*“Prior Sixgill reports have noted a tremendous uptick in specific types of cybercrime on the underground during the COVID lockdowns. This includes gaming store accounts, compromised RDP credentials, money laundering services and narcotics. This research demonstrates that the number of participants in the cyber-underground spiked at the time as well,” *explained Lerner.

*“Why would coronavirus lockdowns lead to a massive increase in users of dark web forums? Some of these users were bored at home and decided to go exploring. Others may have been interested in turning to crime amid the economic shocks from the pandemic and the widely covered proliferation of cybercrime targeting remote workers, such as ransomware and phishing.”*

The research also revealed that while user numbers are growing, only a small number seem to be responsible for the vast majority of posts. In fact, the top 20% of frequent posters generated 73% of posts.

This may be due to large numbers of inexperienced threat actors coming merely to observe but not participate in activity, or that experienced users are creating “burner” accounts to post from a new username each time, Lerner argued.

Dark Web User Numbers Spiked During #COVID19 Lockdown

# Cybercriminals have sensed an opportunity to lure people into buying fake remedies on the dark web, said a report from cybersecurity firm Check Point
 
With several countries including the US and the UK now approving the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, cybercriminals have sensed an opportunity to lure people into buying fake remedies on the dark web, said a report from cybersecurity firm Check Point.

Researchers at Check Point said they have found a stream of posts on the darknet from sources claiming to have a range of "coronavirus vaccines" or "coronavirus remedies" for sale.

The range of medicines advertised by these vendors is extensive, with one vendor even showing vaccine availability for $250, said the report.

However, the researchers warned that the remedies advertised on the dark net are likely to be fake.

"All of the vendors we found insist on payment in bitcoin, as it minimises the chance of them being traced, casting further doubt on the authenticity of the medicines they are selling," Check Point said in a blog post.

In communications with one vendor, they offered to sell an unspecified Covid-19 vaccine for 0.01 BTC (around $300), and claimed that 14 doses were required.

This advice contradicts official announcements which state that some Covid vaccines require two shots, given 3 weeks apart, per person.

In this example, the seller claimed to have stocks of a leading vaccine producers newly-approved vaccine available for sale and delivery from the UK, US and Spain.

Another vendor on the dark web was found offering chloroquine as a regular coronavirus "treatment", for only $10 with the claim that "Hydroxychloroquine, a medicine for malaria that has been touted as a treatment for coronavirus."

This follows statements from US President Donald Trump who touted the use of hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, in contradiction to the advice from his own public health officials.

Check Point researchers also warned that positive news about vaccine trials in November and imminent availability also led to a surge in new web domains that relate to Covid-19 or vaccines being registered.

"Our data shows that since the beginning of November there were 1,062 new domains which contain the word 'vaccine' that were registered, out of which 400 also contain 'covid' or 'corona'. Six of these sites were found to be 'suspicious'," Check Point said.

FAKE COVID-19 VACCINES, REMEDIES FLOODING DARK WEB: REPORT

*Regulation: it was always going to come to Bitcoin and the digital asset industry, and we’ve known it for a long time. While some still cling to myths of a financial free-for-all, those in the Bitcoin (BSV) ecosystem are realists—Bitcoin must work within regulations to exist. 2020 saw new rules for KYC/AML continue to emerge, “privacy coins” gradually becoming more taboo, and enforcement actions that eventually reached XRP, one of the world’s most traded assets.*

Almost every week in 2020 brought news of new or intended regulations concerning the digital asset industry in some part of the world, from Argentina to Kyrgyzstan. Most concerned issues surrounding identity and investments. There are too many of them to mention in one article, so here are some of the highlights.

**But first, a reminder of why regulation exists**

When Bitcoin first appeared, many were enticed by the “freedom” it purportedly offered. Near-anonymous payments to anywhere in the world! Censorship resistance! No taxes! Route around laws you don’t like! Sell shares in anything you want, to anyone who’ll buy them! The end of banks and fiat currencies!

Hmmm…

If you were among those who thought those promises were true, or could last, you may have been naive, or simply inexperienced in the realities of finance and politics, or fooled by charming characters with sinister motives.

Most who experienced the blockchain industry first-hand for a year saw quickly that the above scenarios were unrealistic, or at best unlikely to last. Scams, hacks and thefts began even before Bitcoin reached mainstream ears, and it only got worse after that. The wiser and more experienced could see what was coming, and warned the still starry-eyed (with varying degrees of success). Even the formerly-naive soon realized that a financial wild-west for everyday individuals offered the same “freedoms” to international crime rings, hackers, terrorists, shady investment schemes, and even corrupt government officials.

Few these days can seriously claim government regulation of digital finance can—or should—be avoided. Governments won’t tolerate such a loss of policy control, or an inability to investigate crimes. Whatever your personal ideology or view of how people might act in a perfect world, this is the ultimate reality. People like Dr. Craig S. Wright have been telling us of this need to coexist for several years now, and those who refused to listen are beginning to find themselves in a precarious position.

**KYC**

KYC stands for “Know Your Customer,” and refers to the process of verifying the identities of those a financial service is transacting with. It doesn’t take deep thought to understand why this is important, even if the requirements are burdensome. 2020 saw an acceleration in the level of identity verification requirements for digital asset service providers—these mostly impacted exchanges, given they’re the main off-and-on-ramps between the fiat currency and digital asset worlds.

Both the U.S. and E.U. members began to implement or propose new KYC rules that impose identity verification not only on exchange wallets, but also external wallets their customers might withdraw to. In the U.S., FinCEN proposed KYC requirements for transactions above US$3,000, while France has floated the idea of digital currency transactions between anyone, of any size, needing proof of identity.

The EU’s fifth anti-money-laundering directive (or “AMLD5”) continued to become actual law in 2020. AMLD5 (and another update, AMLD6) were first published in June 2018, based on guidelines set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF). EU member states were given deadlines in January and December 2020 to prepare domestic laws that match the directives. Though not specifically aimed at digital asset exchanges, the directives do impose strict new obligations on them to identify customers with balances of more than EUR150, and report any suspicious activity.

**‘Privacy coins’ feel the heat**

For all the reasons given above, it’s hard to see how a digital currency specifically designed to mask the identity of its users or the sizes of their transactions could survive in the mainstream. Those who have at some stage or another claimed to offer such ‘privacy coin‘ features include Zcash, Monero and DASH—and in 2020, more exchanges began to delist these assets citing regulatory pressure as the reason. Some jurisdictions have suggested they should be banned altogether.

Even ShapeShift, founded in 2015 by prominent Bitcoin libertarian Erik Voorhees on the promise of wallet-to-wallet asset swaps, announced in November it would delist the three. Meanwhile, government agencies such as the IRS ramped up programs to develop new forensic methods to trace Monero and even “Layer Two” payment networks, like BTC’s Lightning Network. Blockchain forensics firms like Chainalysis have seen a boom in revenues thanks to these efforts.

**Investments and securities laws: none too large to target**

A November report revealed that, since 2017, the SEC has brought cases against 56 companies and participated in 2,750 enforcement actions in the blockchain/digital asset industry. The actions come mainly from the “ICO craze” of around that time, which saw a proliferation in the number of digital assets being traded thanks to easy creation via the ERC-20 token protocol. Apparently the idea of pumping and dumping new tokens, loosely attaching them to business ideas that rarely made it past the drawing board, and cashing out with millions wasn’t so awesome after all—failed ICO projects paid a quarter of all SEC fines in 2020.

Again, the biggest news of 2020 came right at the end of the year: Ripple, the company that created top-five market cap digital asset XRP, announced it was in the SEC’s sights with a new suit targeting the company and two of its most senior executives. XRP is an “unregistered security,” alleged the SEC and Ripple (the company) had violated investor protection laws by issuing it… in 2013. The SEC’s action has ramifications not only for Ripple and current XRP holders, but also exchanges that listed the asset. Coinbase was among those who announced it would delist XRP while the SEC’s action continued, but it hasn’t stopped disgruntled customers from targeting the exchange itself—Coinbase has been served with a class action suit by traders claiming it sold unregistered securities with full knowledge of what they were doing.

This is the world Bitcoin and the wider digital asset industry now finds itself in, and regulation is unlikely to get lighter in 2021… or ever. The kicker is, anyone should have been able to predict this, and act responsibly—but so many chose not to. It’s important to remember that blockchain records are public and permanent. Investigative and enforcement agencies may take years to catch up with the technology and methods, but eventually they will. In the meantime, governments will do whatever they can to bring order to the wild west. Bitcoin BSV thought leaders are foremost in stressing this to participants in their ecosystem, and it’s advice everyone should heed.

We told you so! Here are some digital asset regulation highlights

# Many people believe you can do anything on the dark web, from watching livestreamed murders to buying slaves in sinister human auctions — but how much is just urban legend ?

From hiring assassins to buying drugs to watching livestreamed murders, it's commonly believed that you can do just about anything illegal on the dark web.

The untraceable side of the internet is a source of fascination for many, and it's birthed thousands of urban legends about the kinds of depraved activities that go on there.

But how much of it is really true?

Chris Monteiro is a cybercrime expert who knows almost everything it's possible to know about the dark web.

He says contrary to popular belief, it isn't brimming with hitmen for hire who'll take anyone out for a fee.
 

> "It's one of the most high-profile scams of the dark web," he told the Daily Star.
> 
> "There are a cluster of hitman for hire scam sites. They often claim to be a gang with killing abilities.
> 
> "There'll be an email or website conversation to provide details. The conversation either peters out or escalates to anding over money and planning the kill.
> 
> "Then there are always 'delays' which lead to requests for more money."

 

Eventually the mark will realise they've been scammed, but they can't exactly tell the police about what happened. So the cycle continues and it never becomes public knowledge that the famous dark web assassins are a myth.

SEX SLAVES, HUMAN HUNTING TRIPS, HITMEN FOR HIRE: $DARK WEB EXPERT SORTS FACT FROM FICTION

# A Darknet Market Platform, White House Market will not allow payments in Bitcoin (BTC)
Cryptocurrencies are a prime pick of Darknet to make payments
White House Markets to utilize Monero (XMR) to make payments
White House Market will no longer encourage Bitcoin (BTC) payments. The third-party payment processor utilized by the platform, Morphtoken, has all of a sudden picked to block access from Tor exit nodes. From now, the Darknet only accepts the privacy coin Monero (XMR).

# THE GROWING ECONOMY DARKNET MARKETS
White House Market was the second-largest darknet market preceding Empire Markets. But it is claimed to have become the most extensive darknet market after the Empire Markets ran offline last August!

As days have passed, the demand for Bitcoin has significantly increased from both investors and retailers. Due to this reason, White House Market, a superior marketplace on the Darknet, has ended accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC). 

Bitcoin is the most preferred mode of payment in the Darknet markets because Bitcoin (BTC) offers the best security features and keeps users anonymous. Bitfury, a chief infrastructure provider for the Bitcoin Blockchain, reported sending $1.4 billion worth of Bitcoins (BTC) into mixing services in 2020. 

# DARKNET MARKET TO UTILIZE MONERO (XMR) FOR PAYMENTS
The most mass attractive websites on the dark web are known as Darknet Markets. These platforms often sell illegal goods and utilize Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies like Monero (XMR) to make safe payments and not get caught.  

Although the government does not command Bitcoin, the transactions done via the crypto can be traced, making the payments prone to threat. Furthermore, it can reveal the identity of the owner. At the same time, Monero (XMR) does not expose the account of the past transactions. It is planned to be incognito. 

**MONERO (XMR): THE PRIVACY COIN**
The popularity of Monero is on a constant rise because of the anonymity features it has to offer the users. The transactions are difficult to trace as they utilize ring signatures and stealth addresses. Through this way the identity of people remains hidden. 

Currently trading at $160, Monero is the 15th largest cryptocurrency.

...

*This was before recent news. XMR is now trading ~142 USD$*

WHITE HOUSE MARKET STOPS ACCEPTING PAYMENTS IN BITCOIN (BTC)

# Bittrex announced Friday it will be delisting monero (XMR), zcash (ZEC) and dash (DASH), continuing a trend of so-called privacy coins being delisted by cryptocurrency exchanges.

**In a release, the exchange said the coins' markets will be removed on Friday, Jan. 15, at 23:00 UTC.**

While Bittrex gave no reason for the removals, exchanges around the world have been moving to delist coins that seek to preserve the privacy of their users as a way to be compliant with know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations that are spreading around the world.

For instance, the U.S. Secret Service has urged Congress to create ways to limit the use of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
Dash responded via Tweet, calling the label "privacy coin" a misnomer in its case, saying "From a technical standpoint, Dash's privacy functionality is no greater than Bitoin's." Dash said it's requesting a meeting with Bittrex's compliance team in an effort to be reinstated.

Shares of all three coins fell on the news: XMR is down 14.44% to $133.75, ZEC fell 12.28% to $55.76.


Bittrex to Delist ‘Privacy Coins’ Monero, Dash and Zcash

Soft rebrand and new website announced

https://darkpay.market/news/soft-rebrand-and-new-website

As we deserved to clean our old 2018 website before going into serious thing, here we go !

Soft rebrand and new website

Happy New Year to all $DARK community!

Thank you again for your support in 2020! 🖤

👉 2021 will be exciting with great improvements of our #DARK DAO with Polkdaot/Substrate  pallets integration.

Cheers▼ !

#HappyNewYear2021 , a great #Crypto year to come !


DΛRK▼

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