Darknet Market ‘Versus’ Shutting Down After Critical Exploit Leak

Crypto Crime Down 62% But Ransomware Activity Surges

Why Are All the Darknet Markets Down?

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Volume Of Cash-out Services On Other Markets

Recent weeks have seen a significant number of darknet markets going offline, leaving users wondering what is going on. While it is not uncommon for darknet markets to come and go, the sheer number of recent closures has raised concerns among users.

Purchases are made using the decentralised virtual currency Bitcoin, which can also be used relatively anonymously. As it evolved, Hydra became not a ragged underground bazaar but a sophisticated, mature commercial platform. It employed some harm reduction approaches, such as free telemedicine consultations by a medical professional and selective drug-quality tests. While the sites’ closure is a massive boost, the DoJ and Europol both readily acknowledge that new services will simply pop up to replace them. After all, the closure of previous dark web marketplace Silk Road in 2013 was eventually followed with AlphaBay – bigger, more lucrative and, by the looks of it, more dangerous.

According to the announcement, AspaNET can bypass Internet censorship and filtering made by the Chinese Golden Shield Project and the Russian Sovereign Internet. They said also that this new darknet solves many known TOR problems and it has been successfully tested in China and Turkey. Right now there are almost no technical details about it, so it is hard to say more.

By contrast, the largest western bitcoin DNM currently in existence – ASAP Market – accounts for less than 10% of global DNM market share. Despite Hydra’s historically large volumes – the marketplace received more than $400 million between January 2022 and its demise in April (detailed here) – the new generation of DNMs has caught up quickly. 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.

When looking at transactional data from darknet markets around the world, the biggest darknet market consumers were from Eastern Europe, Northern and Western Europe, and North America. Interestingly enough, if you were to exclude Hydra and other darknet markets that serve a particular region, the darknet markets are much pornography dark web less concentrated with several different markets taking in significant revenue. Darknet markets or cryptomarkets have now been operating for 5 years (since the launch of Silk Road in February 2011). In the deep web, site owners, vendors and buyers are able to remain relatively anonymous as their IP addresses are masked.

But despite this sizeable setback for the dark web, recent history suggests that successor sites will take their place. According to CipherTrace research, there has been at least one notable darknet market launched every month on average since early 2019. As it stands, DarkMarket and White House Market monitor dark web appear to be the largest darknet markets in the Western world with over 300,000 customer accounts each. White House Market saw a 40% increase in users between August 27 and September 28, following the exit scam of Icarus, and a further 8-10% increase between late September and October 20.

It can even be infuriating to see that information brokers’ activities aren’t even illegal because they claim to be using information that already exists in the public domain. While personal information may seem invaluable to you, cybercriminals trade personal information for a mere world market darknet few dollars on the black markets that exist on the Dark Web. As you’d expect, misguided individuals or those with clear criminal intent have found a way to use this level of anonymity to cover up their illicit activities and — up to a point — evade law enforcement agencies.

Possible Reasons for the Outages

There are several possible reasons for the recent outages of darknet markets. Here are some of the most likely explanations:

• Law enforcement action: Darknet markets are often targeted by law enforcement agencies, and it is possible that some of the recent outages are the result of successful law enforcement operations.
• Exit scams: Exit scams occur when market administrators suddenly disappear with users’ funds. It is possible that some of the recent outages are the result of exit scams.
• Technical issues: Darknet markets are complex systems that rely on a variety of technologies to function. Technical issues, such as server crashes or network outages, can cause markets to go offline.

How to Stay Safe on the Darknet

Despite the recent outages, the darknet can still be a useful resource for users who take the necessary precautions. Here are some tips for staying safe on the darknet:

• Use a reputable VPN service to protect your privacy and security.
• Use a dedicated darknet browser, such as Tor, to access the darknet.
• Never share your personal information or login credentials with anyone.
• Only use markets that have a good reputation and a history of reliable service.
• Always use escrow services when making purchases to protect yourself from exit scams.

Conclusion

The recent outages of darknet markets are a cause for concern, but they are not necessarily a reason to avoid the darknet altogether. By taking the necessary precaut