Although the S2S network is composed only of U2U transactions, all categories of sellers (i.e, market-only, U2U-only, and market-U2U) are present in the S2S network. For instance, market-only sellers are entities classified as sellers only in markets, but that may promote U2U transactions with other sellers, hence being part of the S2S network. Therefore, the S2S network can be seen as a proxy for a distribution network of illegal products. In contrast to the other types of sellers, the median income of U2U-only sellers increases after operation Bayonet.
Germany led in Tor usage, followed by the U.S., Finland, India, and Russia. As of 2025, daily traffic surpassed 3 million, with approximately 60 percent of domains hosting illicit content. Roughly 500,000 users regularly frequent darknet marketplaces, where over 37 percent of purchases likely result in further crimes. We consider the whole ecosystem, i.e., all markets and the U2U network. In panels (b, c), we show the number of all sellers and buyers per quarter, respectively. In panels (d, e), we show the median net income in USD of all sellers and buyers per quarter, respectively.
The Game-changing Triumvirate: Blockchain, Data Science, And Artificial Intelligence
Below is a screenshot from the Abacus Market website showing the range of items it sells, with drugs and chemicals representing the overwhelming majority of its products. Since 2021, Abacus Market’s revenue has increased substantially, and in 2024, it more than doubled, growing by 183.2% YoY. This increase may be due in part to the closures of top DNMs, the shift to the exclusive acceptance of XMR by other active markets, and delistings of XMR by popular centralized exchanges. The below graph shows an increase in Abacus sales (in BTC) following the closure of ASAP Market in July 2023, and a further increase following some CEXs delisting XMR. Chainalysis’ report noted that Hydra Marketplace had still been the highest grossing market in 2022, despite its early demise.
OFAC Targets Kyrgyzstan-based Firms, Stablecoins Over Russian Sanctions Violations
In 2023, Chainalysis discovered that some popular fraud shops rely on payment processors as a way to reduce their own costs, add efficiency to their operations, and perhaps add a layer of security to transactions. Genesis Market extensively used a payment processor called UAPS, so much that the processor’s average inflows fell by 25.7% after Genesis closed last April. Regardless, UAPS remains a key provider of payment infrastructure to top fraud shops. Using trusted directories, PGP encryption, and secure wallets helps protect against fraud.
- The median net income is positive for sellers while negative for buyers throughout the whole period of observation.
- One of the biggest problems cybersecurity teams face isn’t a lack of tools — it’s too many alerts.
- Through an extensive network of over 3,200 registered vendors, the platform listed more than 17,000 drug-related products.
- One such sophisticated darknet market, Hydra, offered all that and more,” Chainalysis explained.
The growing number of buyers and sellers creates a dynamic community where transactions are successful and anonymous. Much like with drug sales, a similar pattern of task differentiation emerged among darknet markets providing cybercriminal services. In the chart below, we see that the DNM Aggregator emerged as the clear leader among fraud shops enabling cybercrime, and Exploit.in and Kraken Market almost equally sold tools used to facilitate ransomware attacks.
- To track the transactions of markets and users as entities, the data need to be pre-processed in order to map groups of addresses into entities.
- Vendors like “BohemianRx” and “DataVault” offer 96% reliability, though its BTC-only focus and smaller pool keep it behind multi-crypto markets like ASAP.
- Then, after operation Bayonet, the number of sellers in all categories and multisellers significantly drops, as shown in Fig.
- This FAQ section addresses common concerns and curiosities from traders navigating onion marketplaces, crypto trading platforms, and dark pool trading hubs.
- Next up is Abacus, another newer market that has already made a massive name for itself, especially following AlphaBay’s closure.
Inspector General Sites
But don’t be fooled; the connection between Mexican cartels and Chinese fentanyl precursor makers still exists, even if the money flowing to them has dipped a bit. The evolving landscape of crypto crime in 2024 highlights a complex interplay between advancing security measures and increasingly adaptive illicit actors. While efforts to curb illegal activities have shown promising results, threat actors continue to innovate — exploiting vulnerabilities within decentralized finance, blockchain infrastructure, and emerging technologies. The reduction in the quality and user numbers of Western DNMs stands in contrast to the Russian-language ecosystem, where fierce competition and high profits are driving innovation. 2024 saw 42% fewer new darknet marketplaces (DNMs) launched year over year, with the proportion of Monero-only DNMs launched increasing from little more than a third in 2023 to nearly half in 2024. After the UAPS infrastructure takedown, we observed a swift decline in on-chain activity from UAPS counterparties, indicating that many fraud shops relied on this infrastructure to process customer payments.
Scattered Spider Hacker Gets 10 Years Of Jail Time
Multi-layered DDoS protection countered a 2024 attack, maintaining 95% uptime across its onion routing. Its 98% escrow success rate, backed by a 20-person moderation team, resolves disputes in 36 hours for 90% of cases, making it a security benchmark in 2025. Vice City’s payment system hits a 94% success rate, sorting 88% of disputes in 48 hours—reliable for its size, though a touch slower than top spots like Abacus or Torrez. Its Tor routing keeps a 92% uptime, with downtimes tied to seller syncs, not breaches, showing active upkeep.
Category Deep-dive: Illicit Drug Sales Grew And Expanded Outside Of Darknet Marketplaces In 2024
The only difference here is that the precursor purchases are made (and traced) in cryptocurrency. In order to test that theory, we compared on-chain flows to our identified addresses to monthly fentanyl-related drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders, using data from the U.S. More recently, on April 14, 2023, OFAC and the DOJ sanctioned and charged individuals and entities who used cryptocurrency addresses to sell illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. Wuhan Shuokang Biological Technology (WSBT) and Suzhou Xiaoli Pharmatech (SXPC) are two of these organizations.
Despite the defunct site’s nod to the mythical Greek beast, that if you cut off one head, two grow in its place, no other drug marketplace beat Hydra’s four month revenue lead the entire year. To combat crypto-related crime, the Secret Service has started placing warnings on bitcoin ATMs that advise the public of the potential for fraud, Morley says. President-elect Trump once said bitcoin “seems like a scam,” but he’s since become a crypto evangelist as his family business looks to profit from the digital gold rush. In September, Trump announced a new cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, in a partnership with his two oldest sons and two tech entrepreneurs. In September, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and six of his colleagues penned letters urging the country’s largest bitcoin ATM operators to “take immediate action” to address scams targeting older adults. Meraban was indicted on charges of conspiracy, corrupt activity and other crimes.
The Top 7 Dark Web Marketplaces In 2025
Barry Elad is a tech enthusiast who loves diving deep into various technology topics. He gathers important statistics and facts to help others understand the tech world better. With a keen interest in software, Barry writes about its benefits and how it can improve our daily lives. In his spare time, he enjoys experimenting with healthy recipes, practicing yoga, meditating, or taking nature walks with his child.
Buyers send money to the marketplace, which in turn sends the money to the seller. Thus, further analyses in this direction have been hindered by the lack of heuristics able to identify these two key classes of actors in transaction networks and their roles in the structure and dynamics of the ecosystem. Alphabay uses AES-256 with PGP, mandatory for its 25,000+ users, while optional 2FA is adopted by 70%. Multi-layered DDoS protection countered 2024 attacks, maintaining 97% uptime—the highest in our rankings. Its 99% escrow success rate resolves disputes in 24 hours for 95% of cases, securing its 20% market share.
Add a VPN like NordVPN or ProtonVPN before launching Tor to mask your IP—crucial with 15% of ISPs logging darknet traffic in 2025. Opt for no-logs providers, connect to a server in a privacy-friendly country (e.g., Switzerland), and avoid free VPNs, which often leak data, enhancing your anonymity on platforms like Incognito. Saheed Aremu passionately advocates for digital privacy and cybersecurity in the modern digital age. As one of PrivacySavvy’s resident VPN experts, he guides readers on protecting their online information and anonymity. Saheed earned his degree in Technology and Ethics from the University of Lagos in Nigeria. Since then, he has dedicated his career to writing extensively about crucial infosec, data privacy, and cybersecurity topics.
Russian Darknet Dominated Crypto Drug Trade In 2024 With $165 Billion Transactions
Exclusive Monero usage signals a heightened prioritisation of anonymity. Exodus Marketplace emerged in early 2024 as a successor to Genesis Market, focusing on malware-harvested device logs. It reportedly controls around 7,000 infected endpoints across 190 countries Top 10 Dark Web Markets. Darknet is your best source for the latest hacking tools, hacker news, cyber security best practices, ethical hacking & pen-testing. Interestingly, this vendor has also been a trusted supplier for OFAC-designated fentanyl traffickers Alex Adrianus Martinus Peijnenburg and Matthew Simon Grimm, having received close to $1.5 million in purchases from them.
A dark web search engine like DuckDuckGo offers impressive anonymity features and makes it easy to access the shops. These search engines neither track your search queries nor record any information, improving digital privacy and keeping your data private. The Torrez market is one of the biggest dark net marketplaces, also called a community-driven marketplace. It contains a good selection of product listings that range over 35,000 items. The website has an interface and design similar to other dark web shops.
The total volume in DeFi is currently $43.18B, 22.40% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins is now $184.33B, which is 95.64% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. For each entity, we keep track of the cumulative values of the six features for each transaction performed by the entity over time.
