Dark Web, Digital Assets, And Criminal Liability: The Emerging Nexus Between Cryptocurrency And Organized Crime
- IJLLR Journal
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Simratpal Kaur, LL.M. (Master of Laws), University Institute of Legal Studies, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, India.
Dr. Harshita Thalwal, Associate Professor, University Institute of Legal Studies, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, India
ABSTRACT
The article interrogates the convergence of dark web markets, virtual digital assets, and organized criminality, and it does so through a doctrinal lens grounded in Indian public law and criminal procedure. The core problem lies in attributing culpability where anonymity, pseudo-anonymous wallet infrastructure, and cross-border routing frustrate traditional evidentiary and jurisdictional methods. The analysis maps how “virtual digital assets” gained a determinate meaning in Indian tax law through “Section 2(47A) of the Income-tax Act” and how “Section 115BBH” and “Section 194S” now structure reporting and revenue collection. The inquiry then situates the March 7, 2023 expansion of “reporting entities” under the “PMLA” to include VDA-facing services, which generates obligations for exchanges, custodial wallets, and related actors, supported by updated PML Rules and FIU-India guidance. The piece also examines the “CERT-In Directions of April 28, 2022”, which impose logging, incident reporting, and KYC-style validation touching VASPs, VPS, and VPN providers relevant to crypto compliance pipelines. Within the substantive criminal law, the “BNS” adds a consolidated “organized crime” offence with application to cyber-enabled syndicates, while the “NDPS Act” has already intersected with crypto tracing in darknet narcotics matters such as NCB’s Operation Melon. Finally, “UAPA” standards on terror financing frame the residual high-risk perimeter where stablecoins and cross-chain obfuscation raise attribution hurdles. The doctrinal method reads text, rules, and judgments against actual enforcement arc, including FIU-India actions against offshore exchanges and the penalty and registration pathway for global platforms seeking re-entry. Key findings indicate that Indian law now supplies clear AML anchors for VASPs, retains high tax frictions that curb retail laundering channels, and preserves evidentiary continuity through the “BSA” certificate lineage. Reform proposals stress calibrated travel-rule implementation, exchange-mixer liability tests aligned with knowledge standards, streamlined wallet-freezing templates under “PMLA” and “BNSS”, and MLAT practices adapted to non-Budapest cooperation realities.
Keywords: Cryptocurrency, Dark web, Virtual digital assets, PMLA, BNS, NDPS, FIU India, FATF, Evidence law, Cybercrime
