Monero?
Monero, a cryptocurrency known for its private-oriented features, has been gaining popularity since it was launched in 2014. Monero improves the anonymity and fungibility of cryptocurrencies' majority. It makes mining easier even just with the use of a standard computer compared to other cryptocurrency mining methods that use complex hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits. In terms of privacy mechanism, Monero uses stealth addresses and ring signatures to resolve its privacy issues, making it very difficult to identify the sending participant. Monero offers much safer transactions and trading through this mechanism.
But such privacy advantage comes with a great threat.
Emergence of Crimes Linked to Monero
Cybercrime analysts are concerned that Monero's superior privacy (and other altcoins like Zcash) will make the connections between criminal acts and individuals difficult for the police to trace. This will thwart police investigation as Monero has an extra privacy feature that makes it difficult to track down the sender and receiver of money. Such events will give escape to the criminals, leaving their crimes untraced.
Jarek Jacubchek, a cybercrime analyst at Europol, said in a report
“We can see a quite obvious and distinct shift from bitcoin to cryptocurrencies that can provide a higher level of privacy. So basically, you can achieve a higher level of privacy using these 'altcoins', and these altcoins are either using stealth as the basis, like Monero. There are also coins like dash that do not have stealth addresses, they have transparent addresses, but they have a mixing process that is part of the protocol.”
The problem with Monero is that it will utterly limit the capabilities of the police. Investigation will be very difficult as the identification of suspects, the gathering of evidence of criminality, and the seizure of proceeds are confined.
Dark marketplaces are now using Monero to engage in illicit activities such as stolen credit cards, cars, and illegal drugs. Such market in the dark web like AlphaBay and Oasis, have seen an increased use of Monero. The famous WannaCry ransomware attack also shows the gravity of the situation towards the anonymity of the cryptocurrency and how it can be used in money laundering.
Although Monero's popularity in criminal activity is rising, the cryptocurrency itself is not inherently criminal. Still, it is likely to be a tool for such activity as it offers great advantages in terms of privacy.
The issues regarding the anonymity with Monero just show how fast criminals are in adapting to modern technology. Their exploits toward these new technologies have caused great difficulties for the law enforcement authorities. Criminals are surely moving even further into technology to get beyond the reach of the law.
What are your thoughts about the anonymity of Monero? Share them in the comment section.
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