What is Tor?
Let's find out Tor meaning, definition in crypto, what is Tor, and all other detailed facts.
Tor is a decentralized network that encrypts users' web traffic and passes it through a network of relays to anonymize it before it reaches its final destination. At first, Tor was named The Onion Router and that’s why it has its own ".onion" domain. This network is managed by a non-profit organization called the Tor Project. They also created a Tor Browser which is an open-source browser that uses Tor to automatically redirect traffic.
How does Tor work? Each user's traffic is routed through three random relays (or nodes) before reaching its final destination. Each stage of the journey is encrypted separately, and each relay is only aware of where the traffic came from and where it is heading immediately afterward. This means that no relay can ever know the entire path of any traffic.
Tor network is probably mostly known for being a gateway to the dark web and markets accessible via ".onion" addresses. The most well-known of these dark markets was the Silk Road (which is now shut down) where users could buy illegal stuff (fake IDs, guns, drugs, and so on) anonymously using Bitcoin (BTC).
Though note that activists, journalists, law enforcement agencies, dissidents, intelligence services, and others, who want to stay anonymous online in order to stay protected and secure, also use Tor.