Quote Originally Posted by Duuude007 View Post
Um, be careful how you are reading this chart. What we see here can also directly correlate with the drop in ISK value due to inflation.

And let me throw yet another wrench into the works:

PLEX is the name adopted for GTC. GTC was implemented 2006 or earlier, long before this graph is monitoring.

Regardless, not only are you trying to align plex with a date on the graph which does not line up, but the prices continually fluctuate to the point where there is no direct correlation between GTC/PLEX and RMT activity.
I've never played EVE but as far as I can tell, GTC was not implemented specifically as an RMT countermeasure. Rather it was a glorified subscription-gifting system---like gifting Xbox Live 12-month cards before that became a real thing.