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Following Hydra’s seizure, the twelve new Russian-language marketplaces amassed approximately 24% more volume in a period of five months than Hydra did in the first five months of the year when it was still live. Bypass Shop, another similar fraud shop, was shuttered by Russian authorities last March, the report said. Brian Dumps appears to have also suffered some disruption last October, dropping its revenues for that month to zero, according to Chainalysis. Almost a year after Hydra’s takedown, five markets—Mega, Blacksprut, Solaris, Kraken and OMG! Market—have emerged as the biggest players based on the volume of offers and the number of sellers.
What happened to Cannazon?
In November 2021, the popular cannabis-only darknet market Cannazon also announced its retirement. It appears that the service was motivated to retire after suffering a major distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, with its web server knocked offline by intentional floods of traffic.
If you’re a regular user of darknet markets, you may have noticed that many of them are currently down. This can be frustrating, especially if you rely on these markets for goods or services that you can’t find elsewhere. So, why are all the darknet markets down? Let’s explore some possible reasons.
Law Enforcement Raids
What Do Darknet Drug Markets Look Like In 2023?
One possible reason for the current downtime of many darknet markets is that they have been targeted by law enforcement raids. In recent years, there have been several high-profile busts of darknet markets, resulting in the arrest of their operators and the seizure of their servers. These raids can have a ripple effect, causing other markets to go down as well, either due to fear of being targeted or as a result of collateral damage from the raids.
- The responses given by potential darknet market customers highlighted the role of delivery, vendor reliability, and anonymity-related trust factors in their risk perception.
- This announcement from law enforcement, along with the activity on Dream Market, has prompted speculation that, like Hansa, the site has already been seized and is under the control of law enforcement agencies.
- It took me several tries and long frustrating hours to finally get a grip on navigating tor.
- Sure, trust is important on the darknet, but Hydra is currently the most important and strongest DNM player on Russian the scene.
Example: AlphaBay and Hansa
Authorities Have Taken Down The Dark Web’s Largest Illegal Marketplace
One of the most well-known examples of law enforcement raids targeting darknet markets is the takedown of AlphaBay and Hansa in 2017. These two markets were among the largest and most popular on the darknet at the time, and their shutdown had a significant impact on the darknet market ecosystem. The takedown was the result of a joint operation between law enforcement agencies in several countries, and it involved the use of undercover agents and sophisticated hacking techniques.
Registration fee is 25 USD with which they instantly gain access to about 100,000 compromised credit cards and hundreds of thousands of dumps. Clearly, cybercriminals have learned how to best use marketing tactics at a time of opportunity. Not only did Brian’s Club publish ads on the main pages of XSS, but they also put down some money to become the official sponsor of Omerta – a popular underground forum focusing on credit card trading – a position that was held by Joker’s Stash only a year ago. At DeepDotWeb, an anonymous editor chronicles everything darknet related, from the latest in cryptocurrencies to the rise of fall of new darknet markets. In an email interview, the editor (who asked to remain anonymous) predicts that the crazy explosion of smaller markets may be on the wane.
Technical Issues
Another possible reason for the current downtime of darknet markets is technical issues. Darknet markets are complex systems that rely on a variety of technologies to function, including encryption, anonymization networks, and decentralized storage. If any of these technologies fail, it can cause the market to go down. Additionally, darknet markets are often targeted by hackers and cybercriminals, who may try to exploit vulnerabilities in the market’s code or infrastructure.
Counterfeit Prices, Sales Volume, And Surface Web Prices
Example: Dream Market
Its very design makes the darknet a hotspot for criminal activity, and so this has become synonymous with this section of the web. Between 2019 and 2021, we found that 31% of all funds sent to Garantex — over $645 million worth of cryptocurrency — came from addresses connected to crime or hosted by high-risk services like mixers and low-KYC exchanges. That figure includes over $50 million from scams like Finiko, over $60 million from darknet markets like Hydra, and over $10 million from ransomware strains like NetWalker. Total darknet market revenue for 2022 was $1.5 billion, a significant decline from $3.1 billion in 2021. Other marketplaces most likely channeled their efforts towards attracting former Hydra vendors and users, as most fraud shops gained their initial market share after the platform’s collapse.
What Next For Darknet Markets?
One example of a darknet market experiencing technical issues is Dream Market. In early 2019, Dream Market announced that it would be shutting down due to technical issues. The market’s administrators claimed that they had been targeted by a DDoS attack, which had made it difficult for users to access the site. Additionally, there were reports of issues with the market’s bitcoin payments system, which may have contributed to the decision to shut down.
How many users does the darknet have?
Even more so alarming is that this number is on the rise, as of April 2023 this figure rose 200,000 to 2.7 million daily Dark web users," the report noted. Those most familiar with the Dark Web are those from BRICS countries – amounting to 28 per cent of those who cited being familiar with it.
Exit Scams
Finally, it’s possible that some darknet markets are down because their operators have conducted an exit scam. An exit scam is when a market’s operators suddenly disappear, taking all of the users’ funds with them. This is a common tactic used by fraudulent market operators to make off with a large amount of money quickly.
Example: Wall Street Market
One example of a darknet market conducting an exit scam is Wall Street Market. In May 2019, the market’s administrators announced that they were shutting down the site and taking all of the users’ funds with them. This came as a surprise to many users, who had believed that Wall Street Market was a reputable and trustworthy market. It’s estimated that the operators made off with millions of dollars worth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In conclusion, there are several possible reasons why all the darknet markets are down. It could be due to law enforcement raids, technical issues, or exit scams. Regardless of the reason, it’s important for users to be cautious when using darknet markets and to only use reputable and trustworthy sites. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan in case a market goes down unexpectedly.
Who is DeSnake?
DeSnake was one of the original moderators of AlphaBay along with Cazes, who committed suicide while imprisoned in Thailand.
