Deep web users often rely on bitcoin to keep their financial activity hidden from the public. Even though bitcoin is not anonymous by any means, darknet traffickers feel it is the preferred payment option. If Danish police officials have a say in the matter, however, bitcoin is the tool that leads them to people on their list to be arrested. A few of those arrested were carried out earlier this month, all of which are a direct result of tracking bitcoin transactions.
Danish Police Sees Bitcoin As An Ally
Most people are well aware of how bitcoin is not anonymous by any stretch of the imagination. Although cryptocurrency offers pseudonymity traits, it is still possible to uncover one’s identity when using bitcoin. Currencies such as Dash and Monero make that task a lot more difficult, yet they are not widely embraced by the darknet communities just yet. Depending on how many darknet bitcoin users get arrested in the future, that situation may change, though.
According to Danish media outlet Berlingske, national police officials have conducted two separate bitcoin-related arrests in the past few weeks. It did not take much effort to trace back bitcoin transactions to these individuals, as it appears they did not use a mixer or tumbler in the process. As a result of this investigation, the last person to be arrested as a result of this technique got an 8-year jail sentence for online drug trafficking.
It appears the Danish police has some bitcoin investigation techniques other countries may not utilize [yet]. With an in-house developed technology, there is no information as to what this project entails exactly or how it links identities to bitcoin transactions. This topic has been a cause of controversy for some years now, as no one knows how one links bitcoin addresses and identities without demanding information from bitcoin exchanges.All we know is how it cross-references bitcoin transactions with listings containing information about bitcoin buyers and sellers.
While some people may feel these arrests are a negative outcome, it is a positive development for the bitcoin ecosystem. Stories like these may once and for all show the whole world bitcoin is not anonymous and they should not be afraid of using it.The ones that should be afraid of using it are the criminals and darknet users, but for regular consumers, bitcoin holds no danger if they take care of their funds properly. Law enforcement agents will continue to crack down on illegal bitcoin activity moving forward, which only gives the popular cryptocurrency more legitimacy in the process.
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