Bitcoin Forum

Please examine the two links below from October 2014 and then take the poll:  are dark markets good or bad for BTC?  Note these markets have actually grown in the last year.  I say they are good for bitcoin (and I don't buy from these markets, but I do use BTC for commercial goods and services).

TonyT

[1] http://www.coindesk.com/ross-ulbricht-hero-villain/  - A spokesperson from the Bitcoin Foundation cited the prompt increase in the price of bitcoin following the closure of Silk Road as a signal that the bitcoin community regarded the site as a “liability”

[2] http://www.coindesk.com/dark-markets-grow-bigger-bolder-year-since-silk-road-bust/ -  According to academics and researchers studying dark web markets – which transact almost exclusively in bitcoin – listings for illicit goods and services have actually grown in the aftermath of the Silk Road bust. The rising popularity of such markets among drug vendors and customers means that illicit trade is set to expand even more, one researcher believes.

I voted good. I don't think point #1 is conclusive. The price has also benefited from knowledge that BTC was used in the darknet markets.

Well they certainly helped bitcoin become what it is today. If it was not for SR then bitcoin would likely have not gotten any where near as much press nor would it likely have as much adoption that it does today.

On the other hand most dark markets enable people to buy very illegal things and enable people to make what I consider to be very bad decisions

I would say they've done bitcoin good. There are things not meant to be illegal, but driven underground by gov't interests. Not all of the things in darks markets are good, but they've helped bitcoin discover its worth, not just its price.

There are good side & bad side :
The good side is bitcoin is more popular & bitcoin price will up because they have to buy BTC
The bad side is bitcoin have bad reputation (for used at bad purpose)

But, looks like most people don't care about the bad side  :D

Good because it makes BTC more useful..

Dark markets have been great for btc. In fact, if it wasn't for them bitcoin may not be where it is now. Of course neysayers will always try to discredit btc because of it's ties to ilegal stuff, but luckily bitcoin has moved away from bad things and towards the mainstream so that wont matter much in the future.

Any use of Bitcoin is good for Bitcoin, because transcation volume increases. Bitcoin is just neutral technology without political strings attached.  So there is no moral justification to blame Bitcoin for anything "illegal" happening.

Also Bitcoin works on a global scale across various jurisdictions. So even if some people try to blame Bitcoin for illegal activities, their ability to damage Bitcoin is very limited.

ya.ya.yo!

True, I believe.  But when I asked some mild-mannered family members in the USA about Bitcoin, much to my surprise they were very harsh in their judgement and thought it should be banned.  Normally they are indifferent about things.  Why?  I think it's because Bitcoin has a 'dark' image with dark markets.  If you can buy illegal weapons and drugs with it, it must be bad say many (see also here: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/edej45fflfd/murder-3/).  It would not shock me if a few years from now either BTC goes mainstream, or, it is banned in the USA, the same way the Chinese seem to be trying to ban it or regulate it.

Bad.

Legitimate business will not want to associate with products that might damage their brand.

So should like every business in the world stop all machines right now? last time I checked 99.9999 of business deal with dollar, same as 99.9999 crime related activity.

Don't kill the messenger. What is done with a currency doesn't make said currency good or bad.

I think there is no influence on the price of the exchange bitcoin, bitcoin when used on the black market, because it has a character of its own bitcoin crypto, which can only be used with a stable internet connection and free of taxes, because there are no government regulations that govern the use of bitcoin as a means of exchange financial transactions and trade ...  8)

Well said neurotypical except for one thing:  over the last 20 years I notice cash as opposed to credit cards is being regulated out of existence.  When you deposit cash into a US bank, it triggers the Know Your Customer rules, and likewise if you try and get an excessive number of money orders at the local Western Union.

So I think bitcoin is going to slowly get a 'bear hug' from the state soon, and be 'regulated out of existence', slowly or quickly, just like cash. :-(

I think that what you described is inevitable some day, but no so soon.

Any market is a good market. Same as any advertisement is good advertisement. 

More markets there is, more users Bitcoin will get, more it will spread and get adopted. This will make price more stable. Stable price will atrack even more users with less speculative nature as have current Bitcoin user base.

Those that want bad to Bitcoin will find flaws in anything. You can see that on this forum a lot. FUDers find bad things in any new news. 

Any markets are good for Bitcoin because they expand it's user base.

clear ... it's an automated bitmixer feature.
always good.

I would disagree with this. Bitcoin currently has somewhat of a bad name for itself as a means for criminals to steal money and for a way for people to buy and sell illegal drugs on the internet. I would argue that this reputation has somewhat sniffled consumer adoption for legit/legal uses

From what I've learned in the last few weeks, a lot of Bitcoin founders and whales agree with you.  They will IMO try and change Bitcoin to be less anonymous and more like a very cheap and powerful Western Union or PayPal.  If not, I'm afraid Bitcoin will go the way of "Linux" in the OS desktop market:  a mere niche product with not much following except from diehards like drug dealers (for BTC not Linux users).

Bitcoin is going to get popular with all sections of the society.
It is just that the dark markets have been quicker to adopt Bitcoin, and the rest of society is still playing catch up.  :)

Voted bad as every legitimate business will get scrutiny from government for using bitcoin.

If you are not in the Sun, then bitcoins only in the dark

All markets have a dark  part  just that bitcoins  bring efficiency even there

dark markets is very  bad thing for bitcoin, but if dark market isn't live, price (from now) will decrease some much, many transaction is in the dark markets..

It's not necessarly bad, any publicity is good publicity. Everyone ive talked to in real life that know what Bitcoin is, told me that they heard about it because of the Silk Road weed thing, then they started learning more from there.

Dark markets can be good or not good for bitcoin. Good for advertising (many people has known bitcoin thanks deep web for example) and bad for transaction of deep web  >:(

I believe its very good for Bitcoin because all solid and good associates give some strong backup and Dark is also doing this for bitcoin we need some more good associates like this for solid and strong bitcoin

Dark markets are an interesting facet to the cryptocurrency story, which I think is worth investigating. Whether you think it is bad or good for bitcoin is part of that debate. This site is not here to 'promote' bitcoin or promote dark markets, whoever you are. Not sure why you hang around to be honest if you are not interested in it.

although it is used in dark bitcoin market, it does not affect the price of bitcoin exchange, because the price is influenced by the use of bitcoin bitcoin market, more and more use of bitcoin market, the higher the exchange rate bitcoin ... ;D

I think dark markets will give btc a bad reputation and people will shy from transacting with btc and it will then be associated with illegal trade businesses, so on the long run dark markets are not good for btc.

Its obviously bad for the reputation on bitcoin.

But the real definition of getting anything you want w. bitcoin creates a environment where people get anything.

Which I can support, and can be debated obviously.

I do not think either dark market for bitcoin, but I think the price of bitcoin be very high due to the influence of the dark market, but this is just my guess

I think dark markets is good for bitcoin because of anonymity of bitcoin.. and i heard before they are using bitcoin to as money online to buy illegal guns and drugs so i think they are good couple..

Anyone that thinks bitcoin and the dark market connection are bad are most likely not interested in what bitcoin is trying to achieve and in it for profit or mass use. Nothing against either but I dream of bitcoin pushing through some of these invisible walls that hold people down and keep them from living a true life of meaning.

Voted "I don't know" but kind of sort of feel like it must be bad since almost all the stuff which is sold there is illegal and basically when you buy that someone somewhere gets fucked.

They use to not be known as dark markets or being part of the darknet.
It was all underground until more light was put upon them due to major busts reported in the media.
I don't even think the frontier maker of them, Silk Road, is even considered dark market anymore. As they tried to become mainstream but failed.

Although when these "dark markets" become exposed it taints the reputation of bitcoin, I think they help the value of bitcoin.  Many people who criticize these "dark markets" in public go home at night and purchase their Viagra, or what not, from them!  (Not me of course because buying that stuff without an Rx is bad!)   While "dark markets" taint bitcoin's reputation, they tout its versatility!  Bitcoin's versatility is what makes it so precious in my mind.

I will vote as bad because anything that is hidden from the public is hiding something and that is usually because it is bad for society. But then again, when bitcoin first came out everyone thought it was bad since it was associated with these dark markets since it was being used to buy drugs and weapons.
But look at it now. It is being hailed as a technological miracle for the world of finance.

Cant save everyone man lol.

Sooner or later that the person will notice its been a dog eats dog world mentality.

I say either if its good or bad, the nature of bitcoin automatically includes dark markets.

But looking at it in that fashion you are basically saying we live in hell without any remorse in what we buy cause "everything is bad" outlook on life. That is a sad way to live a life my friend.