Bitcoin Robot Sheds Light On The Dark Web

A Swiss art installment drew a great deal of attention to bitcoin this week after Swiss law enforcement officials confiscated the piece for its participation in Agora, a dark web marketplace. The exhibit, designed by Swiss art group !Mediengruppe Bitnik, included a robot and an array of dark web purchases.Using The Dark WebThe robot, aptly named "Random Darknet Shopper", was given 100 bitcoins per week and programmed to use its allowance to randomly buy one item from the underground market. The purchased items were then shipped to a Swiss art gallery called Kunst Halle St Gallen where they were displayed as part of the exhibition. Before being taken into custody, the robot purchased several items including a Hungarian passport, a baseball cap with a hidden camera and Ecstasy tablets. Robot Under ArrestIn January, police discovered the illegal purchases and confiscated the robot and all of its items and considered filing charges against the artists who'd designed the installation. However, the charges were dropped and the robot, sans Ecstasy, was returned to the gallery in April. In a blog post, the gallery confirmed that police had decided that buying the drugs was "a reasonable means for the purpose of sparking public debate about questions related to the exhibition".Bitcoin Still Struggling With A Negative ImageWhile the robot's illicit activities went uncharged, the ordeal served as a reminder that cryptocurrency still has a strong association with criminal behavior and the dark web. With the Silk Road trials still fresh in the public's mind, bitcoin still has a long way to go before it will shake its image as a tool for illegal activity.