OPINION: DRAGGING BITCOIN INTO THE WAR ON DARKNET DRUGS

NEW YORK (InsideBitcoins) – Members of the bitcoin community will remember New York Senator Charles Schumer for his riveting speech on the Senate floor where he demanded that the U. S. Government shut down Silk Road. Although it took more than two years for the shutdown to actually happen, you could say that Schumer was leading the charge for the crackdown on darknet marketplaces.
Joe Manchin of West Virginia was actually another proponent of the Silk Road shutdown, and he even went as far as to call for a bitcoin ban earlier this year. The letter from Manchin to federal regulators was duly mocked by the bitcoin community, as he didn’t seem to have a basic understanding of the technology behind cryptocurrencies.
The renewed call for a crackdown on darknet marketplaces
In a recent press release from Senator Charles Schumer, the various problems associated with darknet marketplaces are discussed, and a call is made for increased federal spending on supposed ‘cybercriminals.’ The writer of the press release claims, ‘Schumer will say that although sales are already illegal, clearly federal law enforcement officials need more resources targeted at the problem in order to investigate and target these sales, which have only increased since the original site, Silk Road, was shut down.’
The basic point of Schumer’s press release seems to be support for increased funding for the War on Drugs. Much like Ronald Reagan’s public remarks on crack cocaine from the 1980s, there are portions of the press release that almost seem like an advertisement for darknet marketplaces. If a drug user or dealer had not heard about darknet marketplaces in the past, they would undoubtedly become interested in them after reading the following paragraph: