The darknet is at the edge of the investable universe: The Dark Net’s potential to disrupt mainstream businesses is growing, Goldman Sachs Research Head of Internet Research Heath Terry says. The darknet — in which messages, goods and services can change hands outside the reach of regulation and law enforcement — remains on the fringes of society today, yet its scale is the most surprising element of it, Terry says. He notes that it has over 400k users in the US alone and says it is creating disruptive risks in two places.

On one hand it impacts how people use the internet, adding an element of privacy that does not make targeting advertising effective and reduces the ability of companies to monetize their online presence — impacting the USD 75 bn online advertising and USD 250 bn e-commerce markets.

On the other hand, the darknet raises regulatory concerns, which Terry sees as could having an impact on regulating the internet as a whole and potentially driving regulators to regulate anonymous communications and getting platforms such as Facebook caught in “the regulatory zeal.”

Ultimately, the darknet could impact the way internet companies grow and ultimately the way they are valued by the market.