Adarknet market is a commercial website on thedark web that operates viadarknets such asTor andI2P.[1][2] They function primarily asblack markets, selling orbrokering transactions involvingdrugs,cyber-arms,[3]weapons,counterfeit currency,stolen credit card details,[4]forged documents,unlicensed pharmaceuticals,[5]steroids,[6] and other illicit goods as well as the sale of legal products.[7] In December 2014, a study by Gareth Owen from theUniversity of Portsmouth suggested the second most popular sites onTor were darknet markets.[8]
Following on from the model developed bySilk Road, contemporary markets are characterized by their use of darknet anonymized access (typicallyTor),Bitcoin orMonero payment withescrow services, andeBay-like vendor feedback systems.[9]
Thoughe-commerce on the dark web started around 2006, illicit goods were among the first items to be transacted using theinternet, when in the early 1970s students atStanford University andMassachusetts Institute of Technology used theARPANET to coordinate the purchase ofcannabis.[10] By the end of the 1980s,newsgroups like alt.drugs would become online centres of drug discussion and information; however, any related deals were arranged entirely off-site directly between individuals.[11] With the development and popularization of theWorld Wide Web and e-commerce in the 1990s, the tools to discuss or conduct illicit transactions became more widely available. One of the better-known web-based drug forums,The Hive, launched in 1997, serving as an information sharing forum for practical drug synthesis and legal discussion. The Hive was featured in aDateline NBC special calledThe "X" Files in 2001, bringing the subject into public discourse.[12] From 2003, the "Research Chemical Mailing List" (RCML) would discuss sourcing "Research Chemicals" from legal and grey sources as an alternative to forums such as alt.drugs.psychedelics. HoweverOperation Web Tryp led to a series of website shut downs and arrests in this area.[13]
Since the year 2000, some of the emergingcyber-arms industry operates online, including theEastern European "Cyber-arms Bazaar", trafficking in the most powerfulcrimeware andhacking tools.[14] In the 2000s, earlycybercrime andcarding forums such asShadowCrew experimented with drug wholesaling on a limited scale.[15]
The Farmer's Market was launched in 2006 and moved onto Tor in 2010. In 2012, it was closed and several operators and users were arrested as a result of Operation Adam Bomb, a two-year investigation led by the U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration.[16] It has been considered a "proto-Silk Road" but the use of payment services such asPayPal andWestern Union allowed law enforcement to trace payments and it was subsequently shut down by the FBI in 2012.[17][18]
The first marketplace to use both Tor and Bitcoin escrow wasSilk Road, founded byRoss Ulbricht under pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts" in February 2011.[19] In June 2011,Gawker published an article about the site,[20][21] which led to "Internet buzz"[22] and an increase in website traffic.[19] This in turn led to political pressure from SenatorChuck Schumer on the USDEA andDepartment of Justice to shut it down,[23] which they finally did in October 2013 after a lengthy investigation.[24] Silk Road's use of all of Tor, Bitcoin escrow and feedback systems would set the standard for new darknet markets for the coming years.[25] The shutdown was described by news siteDeepDotWeb as "the best advertising the dark net markets could have hoped for" following the proliferation of competing sites this caused,[26] andThe Guardian predicted others would take over the market that Silk Road previously dominated.[27][28]
The months and years after Silk Road's closure were marked by a greatly increased number of shorter-lived markets as well as semi-regular law enforcement takedowns, hacks, scams and voluntary closures.
Atlantis, the first site to acceptLitecoin as well as Bitcoin, closed in September 2013, just prior to the Silk Road raid, leaving users just one week to withdraw any coins.[29][30] In October 2013, Project Black Flag closed and stole their users' bitcoins in the panic shortly after Silk Road's shut down.[30][31]Black Market Reloaded's popularity increased dramatically after the closure of Silk Road and Sheep Marketplace;[32] however, in late November 2013, the owner of Black Market Reloaded announced that the website would be taken offline due to the unmanageable influx of new customers this caused.[33]Sheep Marketplace, which launched in March 2013, was one of the lesser known sites to gain popularity with Silk Road's closure.[34] Not long after those events, in December 2013, it ceased operation after two Florida men stole $6 million worth of users'Bitcoins.[35][36][37]
From late 2013 through to 2014, new markets started launching with regularity, such as theSilk Road 2.0, run by the former Silk Road site administrators, as well as theAgora marketplace.[38][39] Such launches were not always a success; in February 2014Utopia,[40] the highly anticipated market based on Black Market Reloaded,[41] opened only to shut down eight days later following rapid actions by Dutch law enforcement.[42] February 2014 also marked the short lifespans of Black Goblin Market and CannabisRoad, two sites which closed after being deanonymized without much effort.[43]
November 2014 briefly shook the darknet market ecosystem, whenOperation Onymous, executed by the United States'FBI and UK'sNational Crime Agency, led to the seizure of 27 hidden sites, includingSilk Road 2.0, one of the largest markets at the time,[44] as well 12 smaller markets and individual vendor sites.[45] By September 2014,Agora was reported to be the largest market, avoidingOperation Onymous; as of April 2015[update], Agora has gone on to be the largest overall marketplace,[46] with more listings than the Silk Road at its height.[38]
Further market diversification occurred in 2015, as did further developments around escrow and decentralization.
In March 2015, theEvolution marketplace performed an "exit scam", stealingescrowed bitcoins worth $12 million, half of the ecosystem's listing market share at that time.[47] The closure of Evolution led to users redistributing to Black Bank andAgora. However Black Bank, which as of April 2015[update] captured 5% of the darknet market's listings, announced on May 18, 2015, its closure for "maintenance"[48] before disappearing in a similar scam.[49] Following these events commentators suggested that further market decentralization could be required, such as the serviceOpenBazaar, in order to protect buyers and vendors from this risk in the future as well as more widespread support from "multi-sig" cryptocurrency payments.[50][51]
In April,TheRealDeal, the first opencyber-arms market forsoftware exploits as well as drugs, launched to the interest of computer security experts.[52] In May, variedDDOS attacks were performed against different markets including TheRealDeal. The market owners set up aphishing website to get the attacker'spassword, and subsequently revealed collaboration between the attacker and the administrator of Mr Nice Guy's market who was also planning to scam his users.[53] This information was revealed to news siteDeepDotWeb.[54][55]
On July 31, theItalian police in conjunction withEuropol shut down theItalian languageBabylon darknet market seizing 11,254Bitcoin wallet addresses and 1 million euros.[56][57]
At the end of August, the leading marketplaceAgora announced its imminent temporary closure after reporting suspicious activity on their server, suspecting some kind of deanonymization bug inTor.[58]
By October 2015,AlphaBay was recognized as the largest market.[59] From then on, through to 2016 there was a period of extended stability for the markets, until in April when the large Nucleus marketplace collapsed for unknown reasons, taking escrowed coins with it.[60]
On April 28, investigations into the Italian Darknet Community (IDC) forum-based marketplace led to a number of key arrests.[61]
In May 2017, the Bloomsfield Market closed after investigations in Slovakia inadvertently led to the arrests of its operators.[62] Later that month, the long-lived Outlaw market closed down citing a major bitcoincryptocurrency wallet theft; however, speculation remained that it was an exit scam.[63]
In July 2017, the markets experienced their largest disruptions sinceOperation Onymous, whenOperation Bayonet culminated in coordinated multinational seizures of both theHansa and leadingAlphaBay markets, sparking worldwide law enforcement investigations.[64] The seizures brought in lots of traffic to other markets making TradeRoute and Dream Market the most popular markets at the time.
In October 2017, TradeRoute exit-scammed shortly after being hacked and extorted.[65]
In June 2018, the digital security organization Digital Shadows reported that, due to the climate of fear and mistrust after the closure of AlphaBay and Hansa, darknet market activity was switching away from centralized marketplace websites and towards alternatives such as direct chat onTelegram, or decentralized marketplaces likeOpenBazaar.[66][67]
In 2019,Dream Market was the most popular market by far, with over 120,000 current trade listings, followed at one time by Wall Street Market with under 10,000 listings.[citation needed] Dream Market was shut down in 2019, and Wall Street Market was seized by law enforcement in May 2019[68] as part of an Internal Law EnforcementOperation Dark Huntor.[69] That same operation also shut down the dark markets DeepSea, Berlusconi,[70] White House, and Dark Market.[69]
The May 2019 seizure of news and links siteDeepDotWeb for conspiring with the markets created a temporary disruption around market navigation.[71]
In 2021, authorities took down the dark web marketplaceDarkMarket, along with arresting the Australian man who was believed to be the operator of the website. The 20 servers that hosted the website were seized.[72]
In August 2021, AlphaBay was relaunched after the return of one of the original security administrators DeSnake.[73]
In June 2025Europol took down theArchetyp Market with an estimated 3200 registered vendors and 600,000 customers worldwide.[74]
One of the central[75]discussion forums wasReddit's /r/DarkNetMarkets/,[76][77][78] which has been the subject of legal investigation, as well as the Tor-based discussion forum,The Hub. On March 21, 2018, Reddit administrators shut down the popular subreddit /r/DarkNetMarkets citing new changes to their content policy that forbids the sale of "Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances".[79][80] This led to the rise ofDread, the dedicated darknet discussion forum[81][71] and the news siteDarknetlive (since closed).
Some marketplaces maintain their own dedicated discussion forums and subreddits.[82] The majority of the marketplaces are in English, but some have opened in Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian.[83]
The dedicated marketsearch engineGrams (closed December 2017) allowed the searching of multiple markets directly without login or registration.[84]
Dark web news and review sites such as the former[71]DeepDotWeb,[77][85] andAll Things Vice provide exclusive interviews and commentary into the dynamic markets.[86] Uptime and comparison services[87] provide sources of information about active markets as well as suspectedscams andlaw enforcement activity. Due to the decentralized nature of these markets,phishing and scam sites are often maliciously or accidentally referenced.[88]
After discovering the location of a market, a user must register on the site, sometimes with a referral link, after which they can browse listings. A furtherPIN may be required to perform transactions, better protecting users against login credential compromise.[89]
Transactions typically useBitcoin[1] for payment, sometimes combined withtumblers[90] for addedanonymity andPGP to secure communications between buyers and vendors from being stored on the site itself.[91] Many sites use Bitcoin multisig transactions to improve security and reduce dependency on the site'sescrow. The discontinuedHelixBitcoin tumbler offered direct anonymized marketplace payment integrations.[92]
On making a purchase, the buyer must transfercryptocurrency into the site'sescrow, after which a vendor dispatches their goods then claims the payment from the site. On receipt or non-receipt of the item users may leavefeedback against the vendor's account. Buyers may "finalize early" (FE), releasing funds from escrow to the vendor prior to receiving their goods in order to expedite a transaction, but leave themselves vulnerable to fraud if they choose to do so.[89]
FollowingOperation Onymous, there was a substantial increase inPGP support from vendors, with PGP use on two marketplaces near 90%. This suggests that law enforcement responses to cryptomarkets result in continued security innovations, thereby making markets more resilient to undercover law enforcement efforts.[93]
Items on a typical centralized darknet market are listed from a range of vendors in aneBay-like marketplace format.[94] Virtually all such markets have advanced reputation, search and shipping features similar toAmazon.com.[95]
By 2015, some of the most popular vendors had their own dedicated online shops separate from the large marketplaces.[96] Individual sites had returned to operating on theclearnet, with mixed success.[97]
Somecriminal internet forums such as the defunctTor Carding Forum[98] and theRussian Anonymous Marketplace function as markets with trusted members providing escrow services, and users engaging in off-forum messaging.[99] In May 2014 the "Deepify" service attempted to automate the process of setting up markets with aSAAS solution;[100] however, this closed a short time later.[101]
Following repeated problems associated with centralized infrastructure, a number ofdecentralized marketplace software alternatives were set up usingblockchain orpeer-to-peer technologies, includingOpenBazaar[51] and Bitmarkets,[102]
To list on a market, avendor may have undergone anapplication process via referral, proof of reputation from another market or given a cash deposit to the market.[94]
Many vendors list their wares on multiple markets, ensuring they retain their reputation even should a single market place close.Grams (closed December 2017) had launched "InfoDesk" to allow central content and identity management for vendors as well asPGP key distribution.[103][93]
Meanwhile, individual law enforcement operations regularly investigate and arrest individual vendors[104] and those purchasing significant quantities for personal use.[105]
A February 2016 report suggested that a quarter of all DNM purchases were for resale.[9]
Whilst a great many products are sold, drugs dominate the numbers of listings, with the drugs includingcannabis,MDMA,modafinil,[107][108][109]LSD, cocaine, anddesigner drugs.
Personally identifying information, financial information like credit card and bank account information, and medical data frommedical data breaches is bought and sold, mostly in darknet markets but also in otherblack markets.[110] People increase the value of the stolen data by aggregating it with publicly available data, and sell it again for a profit, increasing the damage that can be done to the people whose data was stolen.[111]
Cyber crime and hacking services for financial institutions and banks have also been offered over the dark web.[112] Markets such asAlphaBay Market have hosted a significant share of the commercialfraud market, featuringcarding,counterfeiting and many related services.[113]Loyalty card information is also sold as it is easy to launder.[114]
Many markets refuse to list weapons[115] orpoisons.[116] Markets such as the original Silk Road would refuse to list anything where the "purpose is to harm or defraud, such asstolen credit cards, assassinations, and weapons of mass destruction".[22]
Later markets such asEvolution ban "child pornography, services related to murder/assassination/terrorism, prostitution,Ponzi schemes, and lotteries", but allow the wholesaling of credit card data.[47]
The market in firearms appears to attract extra attention from law enforcement,[117] as does the selling of other weapons such as certain types of knives and blades.[118]
Nachash, former proprietor ofDoxbin, wrote a guide in early 2015 entitledSo, You Want To Be a Darknet Drug Lord ...[119][120]
Background research tasks included learning from pastdrug lords, researching legal matters, studying law enforcement agency tactics and obtaining legal representation. With regards to the prospective market's hosting, he recommends identifying a hosting country with gaps in theirmutual legal assistance treaty with one's country of residence, avoiding overpricedbulletproof hosting and choosing aweb host withTor support that accepts suitably hard-to-trace payment. Patterns recommended to avoid include hiringhitmen likeDread Pirate Roberts, and sharinghandles for software questions on sites likeStack Exchange.
He advises on running a secured server operating system with a server-side transparent Tor proxy server,[121] hardening web application configurations, Tor-basedserver administration, automated serverconfiguration management rebuild and secure destruction with frequent server relocation rather than a darknet managed hosting service.[122][123] To protect against guardnode deanonymization he recommends obfuscating traffic by investing in Tor relays which the market site will exclusively use.
For a local machine configuration, he recommends a computer purchased for cash runningLinux, using a local Tor transparent proxy. Foroperations security he suggests avoiding storing conversation logs, varyingwriting styles, avoiding mobile phone-based tracking and leaking false personal details to further obfuscate one's identity. Use ofOTR andPGP are recommended.
He recommends verifying market employees carefully, and to weed out law enforcement infiltration throughbarium meal tests.
Law enforcement and intelligence agencies have expanded investigations of dark web markets,[124][125]
A large number of services pretend to be a legitimate vendor shop, or marketplace of some kind in order to defraud people. These include the notoriously unreliable gun stores,[citation needed] or even fakeassassination websites.[126]
Centralized market escrow allows a market to close down and "exit" with the buyer's and vendor's cryptocurrency at any time. This has happened on several occasions such as with BlackBank,[48]Evolution,[47] and Wall Street Market.[128]
Individual vendors often reach a point of reputation maturity whereby they have sold sufficient product reliably to have gained a significant reputation and accumulated escrowed funds; many may choose to exit with the funds rather than compete at the higher-volume higher-priced matured product level.[127][129]
In December 2014, an exhibition by Carmen Weisskopf and Domagoj Smoljo entitled "The Darknet: From Memes to Onionland" exploredDarknet culture. This featured abot called the "Random Darknet Shopper" which spent $100 inBTC per week on products listed onAgora.[130] Their aim was to explore the ethical and philosophical implications of these markets, which, despite high-profile internationally co-ordinated raids, persist and flourish.[131]
James Martin's 2014 bookDrugs on the Dark Net: How Cryptomarkets are Transforming the Global Trade in Illicit Drugs discusses some vendors who are even branding their opium or cocaine as "fair trade", "organic" or sourced from conflict-free zones.[132] In June 2015 journalistJamie Bartlett gave aTED talk about the state of the darknet market ecosystem as it stood at the time.[133]
According to 2014 studies by Martin[134][132] Aldridge & Décary-Hétu[135] and a January 2015 report from the Global Drug Policy Observatory, manyharm reduction trends have been spotted. These include the reduced risks associated with street dealing such as being offeredhard drugs. The vendor feedback system provides accountability for risks of mixing and side effects and protection against scammers. Online forum communities provide information about safe drug use in an environment where users can anonymously ask questions. Some users report the online element having a moderating effect on their consumption due to the increasedlead time ordering from the sites compared to street dealing.[136]
Professor for addiction research Heino Stöver notes that the shops can be seen as a political statement, advancingdrug legalization "from below".[137] The results of these markets are higher quality and lower prices of psychoactive substances as well as a lower risk of violent incidents.[138] A number of studies suggest that markets such as Silk Road may have helped users reduce the harm caused by illicit drug use, particularly compared with street-based drug marketplaces. Examples include the sale of high-quality products with low risk for contamination (includinglacing andcutting), vendor-tested products, sharing of trip reports, and online discussion of harm reduction practices. Some health professionals such as "DoctorX" provide information, advice and drug-testing services on the darknet.[139] The quality of products is attributed to the competition and transparency of darknet markets[138] which involve user feedback and reputation features.
Europol reported in December 2014, "We have lately seen a large amount of physical crime move online, at least the 'marketing' and delivery part of the business ... [Buyers can] get the illegal commodity delivered risk-free to a place of their choice by the mailman or a courier, or maybe by drone in the future, and can pay with virtual currency and in full anonymity, without the police being able to identify either the buyer or the seller."[95]
In June 2015 theEuropean Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) produced a report citing difficulties controlling virtual market places via darknet markets, social media and mobile apps.[140] In August 2015 it was announced thatInterpol now offers a dedicated Dark Web training program featuring technical information on Tor andcybersecurity and simulated darknet market takedowns.
In October 2015 the UK'sNational Crime Agency andGCHQ announced the formation of a "Joint Operations Cell" to focus on cybercrime.[citation needed] In November 2015 this team would be tasked with tackling child exploitation on the dark web as well as other cybercrime.[141]
In February 2015, the EMCDDA produced another report citing the increased importance of customer service and reputation management in the marketplace, the reduced risk of violence and increased product purity. It estimated a quarter of all purchases were for resale and that the trend towards decentralization meant they are unlikely to be eliminated any time soon.[9]
A June 2016 report from the Global Drug Survey described how the markets are increasing in popularity, despite ongoing law enforcement action and scams. Other findings include consumers making purchases via friends operatingTor browser andBitcoin payments, rather than directly. Access to markets in 79% of respondents' cases led to users trying a new type of drug.[142]
A 2017 study focused on ageographical analysis of trafficking on a darknet market. Researchers contended that previous studies have demonstrated variations in the types of substances available in different countries. These variations can be attributed to factors like geographic isolation, strictborder controls, lenient laws on illegal items, high prices, tight internet control, and the general accessibility of illegal goods.[143]
The size of the darknet markets economy can be problematic to estimate. A study based on a combination of listing scrapes and feedback to estimate sales volume by researchers atCarnegie Mellon University captured some of the best data. A reviewed 2013 analysis put the Silk Roadgrossing $300,000 a day, extrapolating to over $100 million over a year. Subsequent data from later markets has significant gaps as well as complexities associated with analysing multiple marketplaces.[144]
Digital Citizens Alliance[149]
In the episode "eps2.3_logic-b0mb.hc" (ep. 5 of season 2) of the drama–thriller television series,Mr. Robot, the protagonist, Elliot, is supposed to be repairing a Tor hidden site which turns out to be a darknet market called "Midland City" styled after the Silk Road for the sale of guns, sex trafficked women, rocket launchers, drugs and hitmen for hire.[150][151]
In the 2016 movieNerve starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, the dark web plays a major role.
InGrand Theft Auto Online, players who purchase warehouses and garages for illicit cargo and stolen cars can buy/steal and sell them through trade on the "SecuroServ" syndicate website. After theBiker DLC, players can now purchase buildings for illegal drugs and counterfeit products manufacture, and distribute them through a darknet website called "The Open Road" where law enforcement cannot be notified of the player's trade.
In the first arc of the anime seriesLupin the 3rd Part V,Lupin III stealsdigital currency from the "Marco Polo" darknet market.
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