The Darknet Markets & Crypto – You May Kiss The Bride

2022/12/25 14:39 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust your day is going well & Thank You for stopping by this thread.

It has been long since weighing on my mind to begin this thread but each time I tried to get around to it I stopped short of starting.

There are countless reasons, or rather, excuses which I could furnish for the procrastination, but the underlying truth is due to the good old lack of determination & drive to do what needs to be done & subsequent kicking the can down the road.

All the same here we are.

What was/is the rationale behind this thread?

I wish to do my part with bringing to light the intrinsic & undeniably cohesive manner with which The Darknet Markets & Bitcoin are for lack of a better term, made for one another.

In the absence of this critical information being well understood there is this is a vital link missing which allows us to understand one of the core drivers for the seemingly never-ending demand for Bitcoin.

The basis for my comment & my ability to factually qualify my statement will become evidenced as the thread evolves & others also provide their insight and findings.

Now that I began the thread, I will do my utmost to post to it as regularly as I can.

You will find at the top of each post will be a date & time stamp. There will no doubt be a date/time trail on the actual FF thread but the one I am posting could likely offer some added affirmation as to what time it is when I posted, local time (SAST) & if someone is reacting allow them insight as to what I could possibly be doing at the time of their post.

If there is feedback from the community, I will certainly do my utmost to provide information as clearly & factually as I understand it. If I don’t understand it or worse completely unaware of the matter being enquired about, there may likely be someone else on the forum who could be able to provide direction & clarity.

Whilst we’re speaking about posting feedback.

I observed many threads on Forex Factory contain a set of rules from the thread starter outlining behaviour from members interacting with the thread which will result in them being placed on ignore or banned from the thread, should they not comply with the OP’s list of requirements.

I am not inclined in that way, whilst I respect those who wish to employ such methods with the threads they begin.

I can confirm in no uncertain terms that I will not do that to anyone. Perhaps there could be a situation where someone decides to have a go at me, as is done on threads from time to time.

My reaction & replies to that individual (if there’s just the one that is) will serve to confirm my position on the matter.

My single request, which you could ignore if you so wish, is if you decide to offer feedback or help someone with an enquiry or guidelines kindly try to do so in a manner which doesn’t involve fighting & screaming at one another with vulgarity.

I fully understand that sometimes people get swept away in a wave of emotion but if we can keep it civil, factual & least emotive as possible we can unlock the great value a robust platform such as this platform (Forex Factory in totality) provides to ventilate weighted issues.

The Forex Factory moderators and senior admin members have already laid out a comprehensive & detailed Code of Conduct which I believe will supersede internal thread related requirements.

If any members post is blocked from this thread, I can give you the assurance in advance that it would not have been done by me.

As I understand it, the moderators & FF Admin team will do that if they detect a contravention of the Code of Conduct.

I wish that this introduction offers some background as to what we do achieve together & I will begin posting information as I understand it as we go along.

I will be building the aeroplane in flight whilst trying to keep it chronological & structured as I can, so I beg your pardon in advance if the topics & information presented is sometimes disjointed.

If anyone enquires about something or offers a suggestion to discuss a certain matter, as far as possible that topic/discussion will take precedence over the normal feedback that I will include whenever I can.

After all, this is a community service offering & the feedback from anyone willing to contribute must always enjoy the prime space in the engagement.

I wish You a pleasant afternoon.

2022/12/26 15:55 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well & having a great day.

I realise that most of the community is busy with the holiday festivity & decided against including overly intensive information today.

All the same I sought to merely post a greeting & wish everyone on the forum a fantastic day.

2022/12/27 14:40 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well & having a great day.

Perhaps I should have included the context of this post in the first post since I incorrectly assumed that everyone on the FF forum may likely be familiar with The Darknet Markets.

Upon further consideration I think it might be more suitable to include some basic information should anyone be completely unaware.

The core differences between the methods of users normally accessing the internet between those that use browsers such as Chrome or Edge and the Darknet is that a high number of the sites present in the Darknet would not be able to list their products & services on the normal search criteria.

There are countless reasons for this ranging from the search engine blocking the site due to the nature of the business and law enforcement authorities being able to track them more easily.

The peculiar phenomenon with The Darknet & more especially, The Darknet Markets is the extremely high number of websites & services which are just plain scams & hoax sites.

I will monitor whether there is any feedback to this topic as a mechanism to identify whether it is worth going into greater detail or just leave it as a surface comment as this post is.

May I take this opportunity to wish the FF community a pleasant day ahead.

Disagree with you, privacy coins like XMR or ZEC are much better suited for the Darknet vs. BTC. Tools like chainalysis make it trivial to track BTC from shady sources & the authorities have been able to track BTC stolen from the most famous Darknet site, Silk Road: https://www.cryptocraft.com/news/118...rrency-seizure

Hello BTCmailman;

Thank You for taking the time to respond & I wish to offer you the assurance that I am actually in full agreement with you. the basis for me only quoting Bitcoin for now is just to underscore the most critical information that if someone wishes to trade in the Darknet, they must have access to crypto since fiat currency along with all other payments methods are useless in that environment as you are no doubt aware.

I didn't include the coins you included just yet, but it is indeed part of the plan to detail the chronology of how they began gaining traction. You are certainly right on that Monero is now accelerating beyond Bitcoin as the "currency" of choice amongst most vendors. From a trading perspective, we know full well what that extreme demand is going to do to the Monero Coin.

The drawback for them, well, the way I understand it is that when the brand-new buyers get into the Darknet I have witnessed first-hand & perhaps you may have as well that they are often oblivious of how to acquire any crypto to buy what they wish which still creates some convenience (for lack of a better term) for Bitcoin since it is generally more accessible to persons who are completely unaware about anything crypto.

Thank You once again for responding & your insight since it allows me a sounding board as to where the community is at so far as knowledge base such that I align the chronology & cohesiveness of the thread to keep the pace so to speak.

I wish you a wonderful day ahead & May The Markets Go With You...

2022/12/28 14:43 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well & having a great day.

It is vital that I include a note of appreciation to BTCmailman for calling to attention the altcoins which are gaining further acclaim than Bitcoin as the preferred payment method.

In light of that that, in hindsight the title of the thread should have referred to crypto, not just Bitcoin so I have changed the title.

After all, thread’s purpose is to create awareness & a basis for all of us share the information we have on hand such that the broader community is aware of all the nuances which surround us as traders & factor those into their trading decisions.

In light of the development with BTCmailman since this morning I will certainly relook the posts & how we detail them since it is undesirable that the information included is out of alignment with the knowledge base which the FF community is already up to par with.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2022/12/29 16:26 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well & having a great day.

This has been a considerably busier than normal day with operational work which I am involved in outside of trading so I didn’t get around to detailing any further points concerning this topic.

Please be advised that I made attempts to change the heading from Bitcoin to Crypto but it seems there is a limited time within which that is possible. The title is now greyed out which implies not open for editing.

I am truly sorry about that since it is a vital aspect more especially as we progress & the altcoins which prove a more compelling use case in the Darknet Markets this heading remains static & unfortunately out of alignment with relevance.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2022/12/30 15:53 GMT +2

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well & here we are at the end of another trading MN period but so far as FX & others go the last day of the trading year.

I had a glance at some of the “party favorite” FX crosses & see they are generally still in fairly tight accumulation zones from the H4 time-frames & upward so the chances of them doing anything rather drastic today is slim at best since being where they are, more or less will allow for the High or Low water-marks for the new MN (Jan 2023) to be achieved more effectively.

It’s been a while since the end of calendar year gave us a Black Swan. Off the top of my end; the last ones which were worth sinking our teeth into (end/beginning of year I refer to; not the 2020 virus one) was the Aussie rapid capitulation in 2019 & off course; who amongst us who’s been around can forget 13th December with the GBP crosses after the Tory’s “unexpected” landslide victory.

I remember the next morning as though it was yesterday since I liquidated my Pound cross longs at what were considerable profits before shutting down that day but if I had the steel to leave just one of them running overnight, I likely would not have needed to trade for the rest of December or January for that matter.

Ah well, if wishes were horses, beggars would indeed ride hey…

However, I digress, that’s just my peanut gallery comment/opinion on FX, which we know is worth nothing since, if there’s just one thing I learnt with trading (especially FX) over the years, it’s that, whenever I think there’s a good chance “something”, whatever that something is of happening, it’s almost inevitable that the polar opposite happens, with a break-out for good measure.

This thread is about The Darknet Markets & Crypto but seeing as we’re approaching the end of the month & year with most FF members not even on screen much we’ll keep it light.

From my end; I have to say I am rather positive with the rapid capitulation happening on Solana, even though my buy orders since the last two months or so are all under water. I am indeed preparing to secure more of them at wherever it bottoms out since I am prepared for it go as low as it must before the dead-cat bounce which will likely arrive at some point, whenever that may be.

The other two which I am looking forward to them kicking off hard whenever the Metaverse, Web 3.0 mania hits again is Mana & Sand.

As we know; there is of recent almost no discussion of The Metaverse advancement whilst at the peak of both those instrument ATH; everyone at their dog was shouting off the hilltops that nobody should not buy any/all cryptos which were even remotely connected to The Metaverse.

Then; not long after, came the inevitable falling knife capitulation & we are now observing the normal mainstream media doom & gloom narrative which serves to encourage anyone who has held until now to rather “cut their losses” & get out.

No doubt; it (the mainstream media narrative that is) serves two agendas well since it also almost ensures that no “sane” person will consider buying now.

Goodness forbid we should buy when the price is low, we should wait for the kick off & chase when it’s back at the ATH, like most of us do when we start out & still do from time to time, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, if nobody else.

Perhaps we may reflect on an adage I learnt from a kind gentleman who, despite being a complete stranger to me, offered me some priceless guidance over the years, it goes like this, Quote:

“Buy ‘em when they Hate ‘em, Sell ‘em when they Love ‘em”

Thank You, Scott, if by some bizarre chance you ever come upon this thread, I’ve learnt a lot from you & will be forever in your debt…

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well this fine day.

Extending on the post from two days ago, I didn’t notice right off the bat yesterday that the subject line for the thread has been changed to Crypto from Bitcoin. I am unsure how that happened since my attempts to change it when I did the post that day were not working.

Perhaps one of the senior Mods or Admin personnel saw my previous post & amended it. However it was done, Thank You to the person/s who sorted that out for us.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2023/01/11 15:24

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well and I wish to record my sincere apology for not making any posts over the last few days.

The challenge which has confronted me is I got involved in the darknet but find myself being consumed with some of the situations which present.

As we know so far as this trading forum goes we can spend a long time on it gaining knowledge & understanding from the wealth of knowledge from veteran traders who show us the way.

So far as the darknet, I experienced some positions I found myself in where I could simply not ignore it & walk away. It is difficult with how much I can include, as BTCmailman understands since he has some exposure to that market as well.

It is also not possible to include links where visitors to the thread could simply log on & make an informed decision since it is not accessible through conventional browsers. I am still positive about it all the same, at the expense of the time lost since I do what I can to bring some semblance of normality to the threads & platforms I spend time on.

I really wish, once again I could get into specifics but it would be unfair to the stakeholders & I am unsure what FF admin may think of it as well. The primary point to be aware of ; is I am doing, mainly what we traders are always fired up about. That being trying my best to stop brand new guys from getting taken for a ride & scammed due to not knowing what they’re doing & making purchases from scammers who will not supply them anything but empty promises & broken spirits.

I know for a fact; if 10 or 20 traders come upon a newbie trader who come upon a newbie trader such as on this great platform who is trading recklessly everyone rallies & tries to set the fellow straight, lest he donates he’s trading capital to the market.

We can be proud that our work has made us so passionate about trying our best to stop others losing money. For all our differences, trading styles, fights & squeals, laughter & sadness, thrills & spills we are joined at the hip with that common denominator, trying to stop someone losing.

It is sad not to have all the support & backing of this great community on those forums & threads since there’s just me & one other guy who understands what is being done to the newbies & literally hundreds of scammers who act in synchrony to entice the newbie into basically buying the emperor’s new clothes & then onto the next victim.

I will certainly make greater efforts to continue with the important information which should be ventilated on this thread & sincerely apologise once again for my absence to the traders who were viewing the information regularly.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2023/02/07 23:31

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone on the forum is doing well.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I wish to record my sincere apology once again for not making any posts over the last few days or even weeks, how the time flies is something to beholden.

It is has been an eventful time in the Darknet. I am very grateful to have been at the cutting edge of developments when the bounce happened with crypto from the LWMs several of them, including Bitcoin was stuck at for a long time.

The lessons I learnt & observations I made across many of the markets there was astounding to say the least.

The process is clearly well orchestrated & far from random as to how we look at it from the Clearnet when not at the grass roots level.

There has been a series of bizarre incidents ranging from some vendors refusing to fill orders which are in Escrow, other vendors just “falling off the planet” and perhaps the most critical variable markets which were in operation for a considerable length of time shutting down.

The last case of markets closing down, without warning in that manner is the typical exit scam since they clearly had a considerable amount of funds held in their Escrow System & when the crypto kick-off took place they reasoned it is much more profitable to exit-scam & perhaps resurface at some point in future as a new market.

I had no funds locked in since I am generally just a spectator & comment only when I see one of the newbies getting sucked in by the scammers so they can take a step back & keep their money in their pockets.

All the same, it was disappointing to be at the fore-front of an actual exit scam, well more than one scam since three markets in total during this time, simply closed. Just silence when the url is clicked, nothing, nada, up in smoke.

Ah well, at least being involved directly allows me the latitude to observe it at the coalface albeit such a disturbing sequence of events.

My sincere appreciation for anyone who visits this post since I just needed to vent some frustration about it & intended to post many days ago.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2023/02/08 23:47

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone is doing well & having a pleasant time with the mainstream media comedy which is unfolding whereby proclamations of getting inflation under control resulted in the BTC spike we saw & then not long after reversal on the position that it could take longer than anticipated which resulted in the gains being wiped out.

All in a days work hey, talking from both ends of one’s mouth, now that’s something even for the media fiasco we have attuned our minds to curve fit as known misinformation.

I am purposefully not really discussing the core darknet/crypto relationship today or anything much about the darknet for that matter since the reality is I really have a void with not having been as active as I normally am on Forex Factory. Being away from the community for as long as I was with some of the important association, we share with one another creates a sense of comfort to just be able to interact on this forum.

Rest assured I will get back into the darknet/crypto relationship, but I gave myself a break today.

Anyhow, this thread is not so much about the mainstream media shenanigans, so we’ll move along with our topic. It would however be remiss of me to not acknowledge that Million Dollar NFTs are starting again, after what seemed like an eternity.

After all, I noticed CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs selling for seven-figures again. Add to this we have a merge being finalized which will usher in a crypto mining giant in the US of A.

Are these developments reverse engineered to spark a wave of FOMO buying at what is either a dead-cat bounce “bull-trap” intra-day/week peak-formation high or range expansion kick-off point on several cryptos?

You be the judge since your guess is as good as mine.

If I were to volunteer my opinion, which we know, so far as trading goes, is worth less than used toilet paper. We traders (well many of us who are mature enough to admit it) just want to make fools of ourselves with crystal ball gazing. So here goes, my two cents worth:

I suspect the current point is likely an exhaustion point to pull in all the “top-end” buy orders prior to which we could have the good old pull-back to the previous ATLs or even lower than that so as to ensure the bus gets to leave the station, empty, as it must, when the “real” bull run kicks off.

After all, the fact that it is waiting around where it is for as long as it is could surely not be a process to extend invites for all to climb aboard before it does a much anticipated second leg range expansion.

The gentleman Alex has a thread on crypto where another FF member commented that cryptos could remain in a “winter” state for the better part of 2023. I found his post is fairly sensible & the basis for his assessment. If he is correct, we could experience a rapid collapse on many cryptos from around where we are priced now.

Off course, I for one, will be elated beyond measure if those instruments prove me completely wrong & run upwards like bats out of hell. After all, I am long in several cryptos for better or worse & will rather enjoy being completely wrong but gaining exponential profits.

That trade-off is rather cool consolation prize to sooth the ego demons hey???

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…

2023/02/12 07:18 – Final Post until further notice

Hello FF Community;

I trust everyone is doing well.

Please be advised that I have come to the realization that this thread doesn’t really add great value to the FF community. This is since I monitored the response since inception of the thread & find there is some enquiry but not such as some of the threads which draw the interest of traders.


In my opinion I suspected it would have sparked some level of interest amongst crypto enthusiast & traders in general since there is a correlation between the variables.


All the same, it is vital that I take cognizance that there is currently no tangible interest concerning the nuances which could be ventilated.

Taking the above into account it would be inappropriate for me to keep posting content which occupies space on the forum list & perhaps depriving the community of channeling their attention to matters which resonate more deeply with them at this point.

I will surely return to the thread & continue perhaps if there is a shift in momentum & general interest in the topic in future.

Rest assured; I am eternally grateful for everyone who stopped by & gave the posts I made some interest.

Further to that, I have the luxury of having formed a much appreciate connection with BTCMailMan since he no doubt has a considerably heightened understanding of the variables at play with crypto & the other instrument correlation.

I wish everyone on the forum a pleasant day ahead & May The Markets go With You…