According to a report by Recorded future,Litecoin is the second most preferred digital currency after Bitcoin in Dark web.Recorded Future came to this conclusion after analyzing prominent message boards, marketplaces,and illicit services.The surge in the value of bitcoin since mid-2016 due to rising interest among speculators resulted in higher transaction volume and thus increase in the transaction charges.Since most of the transaction in dark web is in the range of $50-$300 this transaction charges sometime accounted for around 30 percent of the total value. Besides this higher number of transactions were also congesting the bitcoin network as the throughput in the network remained the same thus resulting in longer confirmation time.But in spite of this flaws Bitcoin is to remain a major currency in the dark web albeit with a smaller market share,an excerpt from the report:

"To understand and anticipate any upcoming shift in the next six to 12 months, Recorded Future analyzed 150 of the most prominent message boards, marketplaces, and illicit services. Contrary to what we learned by observing the chatter between criminals during the past several weeks, Bitcoin remains the gold standard in the dark web, with all vendors accepting it as a payment, and Litecoin emerged as the second most popular currency, with 30 percent of all vendors who implemented alternative payment methods willing to accept it. Dash is closely trailing Litecoin with 20 percent of the market. Unexpectedly, Bitcoin Cash was the third most common cryptocurrency with 13 percent of vendors trusting it as a payment method."

Geographic specific preference of Digital currencies among the dark web was another interesting insight. According to the report

" Eastern European criminals are more proactive in the implementation of alternative payment options compared to the English-speaking communities, but also which currency is the most preferred for each group. While Russians favored the accessibility and convenience of Litecoin, with a more diverse and established supporting infrastructure, English-speaking members seem to be more security-oriented, choosing Monero for its built-in safety features."

Though the report concludes that in the next 6-12 months Bitcoin will lose its prominence among the dark web users. In my opinion this conclusion can be far fetched in retrospect if the recent segwit activation by major exchanges and wallet services (Coinbase) is taken into account.Besides the recent test-net results after the implementation of lightning network protocol also is positive.This above developments though little late are still a good way to go forward to increase the throughput rate and thus addressing the concerns of the underworld dilemma in adopting Bticoin for drug business ;).