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Online illicit marketplaces known as cryptomarkets have gained considerable attention from the media, government authorities, law enforcement agencies, and researchers. An increasing number of studies have investigated various aspects of these cryptomarkets' characteristics, such as product categories, sale volumes, and the number of listings and vendors. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding whether illegal transactions (of illicit drugs) take place during the day or week. This study fills this gap by tracing Bitcoin addresses associated with the six previously leading and most active cryptomarkets—Silk Road, Silk Road 2.0, Agora, Evolution, Nucleus, and Abraxas—to identify the specific timings of these transactions. This study reveals clear patterns of activity on the marketplaces. First, transactions more often take place at night in European countries (Germany, Netherlands, the UK), the US, and Canada, where the cryptomarket drug trade is most active. Second, there are more transactions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and fewer on Saturdays and Sundays. This indicates that the retail drug trade accounts for a large part of the cryptomarkets. Further, this study examines the impact of a cryptomarket policing effort known as Operation Onymous, and indicates that this policing effort only displaced users among these marketplaces and did not deter their activity, even in the short-term. It also suggests that Operation Onymous did not alter users' transaction patterns. • Activity of the six leading dark web marketplaces is measured. • There was a larger volume of trades on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. • There were fewer trades on Saturdays and Sundays. • The drug trade for retail purposes accounts for a large part of the cryptomarkets • Operation Onymous simply displaced users and did not deter activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study measures the evolution of the anonymous marketplaces Silk Road, Silk Road 2.0, Agora, Evolution, Nucleus, Abraxas, and AlphaBay, which were the seven leading and most active dark web marketplaces. We identify that all the seven marketplaces use the same software to manage Bitcoin by investigating transactions in these marketplaces. However, the software was no longer used since May 2016 because of its vulnerability to protect anonymity. It indicates that dark web marketplaces advanced to the next stage with anonymity-enhancing tools around in March 2016. Using simple heuristics to identify and trace Bitcoin addresses associated with these marketplaces, purchases on these marketplaces are identified and evaluated. Our method provides evidence on market size, development, and fluctuation over time to fill a gap in previous studies. Dark web marketplaces continue to thrive because users migrate to new marketplaces after the existing ones are shut down. The total sales volume on Silk Road was 192.7 million US dollars between June 2012 and October 2013. The corresponding figures for Silk Road 2.0, Agora, Evolution, Nucleus, and Abraxas were 112.9, 220.7, 69.7, 88.3, and 35.6 million US dollars, respectively. The figures for AlphaBay was 166.0 million US dollars between December 2014 and February 2016. • Activity of the seven leading dark web marketplaces is measured. • Transactions of Bitcoin is investigated. • Internal Bitcoin transactions within each marketplace have a common characteristic. • Dark web marketplaces continue to thrive despite of international policing effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an emerging sub-discipline of digital forensics covering financial technologies, or Fintech. The digital transformation of society is introducing new Fintech for payments, funds transfer, and other financial transactions. Criminals are using and abusing financial technologies for fraud, extortion, money laundering, and financing activity in the criminal underground. The investigation of Fintech and digital payment activity needs to be recognized as a new technical sub-discipline of the digital forensics landscape. The digital forensics community is well positioned to provide research for practitioners to enhance investigations involving Fintech and technical financial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]