Let me be clear. I’m not endorsing skirting the ATF’s rules or regulations in any way. Part of what I’m covering here is perfectly legal, and a bit boring. Some of it is not. But bitcoin is worth a look, if only to understand a growing aspect of the global internet-based arms trade phenomena.

I’ve been wrestling with the bitcoin concept for a while. The best analogy I’ve come up with is still a bit flawed. Bitcoin is somewhat like PayPal. It is a form of electronic payment. Sort of. PayPal actually transmits recognized government currencies. Bitcoin is not a currency exactly. People buy bitcoins with real currency, and then trade the bitcoins online for goods or services.

Bitcoin exists because a bunch of people on the internet believe it. Their faith in the bitcoin gives it its value (which can fluctuate, depending on this confidence).

Today, 1 bitcoin is worth $121.80.

The big appeal of bitcoin is the ability to use it anonymously. This is from bitcoin’s website:

“Bitcoin uses peer to peer technology to operate with no central authority; managing transactions and issuing Bitcoins are carried out collectively by the network. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment systems.”

“Exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment systems.” Previous payment systems, like credit card payments, are easily traced. But bitcoin works more like old-fashioned cash. Users buy black market goods online. Bitcoin makes these transactions much harder to trace.

The most notorious site for buying drugs on line is The Silk Road. Given the success of their illicit drug sales, The Silk Road began selling black market guns. The Armory, The Silk Road’s firearms section, was soon spun off into an independent site. But The Armory shut down. An administrator from The Silk Road wrote in to a bitcoin forum in August of last year:

As most of you have figured out, we are closing the armory. Your first question is probably “why?”. Well, it just wasn’t getting used enough. Spinning it off originally was done somewhat abruptly and while we supported it, it was a kind of “sink or swim” experiment. The volume hasn’t even been enough to cover server costs and is actually waning at this point. I had high hopes for it, but if we are going to serve an anonymous weapons market, I think it will require more careful thought an planning.