Darknet markets are online black market platforms that facilitate the trade of illegal goods. These include drugs, weapons and sex products.
These markets operate via an anonymizing network such as Tor and can be accessed only with a previously provided address. They also offer users multiple protections, including buyer and seller ratings for quality of service, escrow features that hold funds until orders are fulfilled and dispute resolution services.
1. Silk Road
Silk Road was an online underground marketplace that allowed users to buy and sell illegal drugs, as well as other illicit goods. It was operated by Ross Ulbricht, who was arrested in October 2013.
The site thrived because it offered buyers and sellers of illegal drugs the opportunity to conduct transactions anonymously using privacy technologies such as Tor and bitcoin. The website also used a feedback trading system where buyers gave feedback to sellers after they received their goods.
Ulbricht was eventually convicted and sent to prison for life. Although his site was shut down in 2013, other darknet markets have emerged. Many of them use similar technology and services to Silk Road, such as escrow, Tor, and cryptocurrency transactions. These websites have since become an important part of the global criminal underworld.
2. AlphaBay
AlphaBay was a dark web marketplace that allowed users to buy and sell drugs, firearms, computer hacking tools and other illicit goods. Its popularity allowed it to become one of the biggest dark web markets, and its owners were able to amass a fortune before it was shut down by authorities in 2017.
The site's founder, Canadian citizen Alexandre Cazes, died by suicide in Thailand after his arrest. He was one of the wealthiest individuals on the site, and prosecutors say he was responsible for trafficking fentanyl and heroin in the United States.
Earlier this week, DeSnake (aka a threat actor who uses the alias DeSnake) announced on
GhostBin that he's revived AlphaBay, which was shut down by authorities in 2017. According to him, the new AlphaBay will dual between a forum and a marketplace, and it runs on bulletproof servers and offers dispute-resolution services.
3. Hydra Market
Hydra Market is one of the largest and most active
darknet websites markets. It offers a number of features that make it unique among other marketplaces.
It has a reputation for a high-quality user experience and has received significant attention from both media and law enforcement. It has a large selection of vendors and users, as well as a variety of payment options.
Vendors on Hydra Market sell a variety of illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. They also sell hacking tools and services to help buyers illegally access online accounts.
In April, German law enforcement seized the servers of Hydra Market. Its seizure is the result of a joint operation with US and European law enforcement agencies.
4. Kingdom Market
Kingdom Market is a new dark web marketplace that aims to provide its users with reliable services. It provides a secure platform to trade in Bitcoin, Litecoin and Monero and also offers an Escrow Account System.
Kingdom Market offers a variety of products including Drugs, Digital goods, Jewellery and Jewelry, Forgeries, Counterfeit items, Software and Miscellaneous. Its most popular category is drugs with over 40% of the product inventory, followed by fraud and counterfeit items.
Kingdom Market offers a wallet-less payment system, allowing users to make payments without a deposit. It is one of the safest and most user-friendly marketplaces on the dark web. It features a wide array of security measures such as 2-FA and PGP support. It also has an active Escrow account.
5. Cryptonia
Cryptonia is one of the newer darknet markets, added after Dream voluntarily closed and Wall Street was shutdown by law enforcement. It is a simple and secure anonymous marketplace that
features wallet-less escrow (direct deposit), easy to use Bitcoin Multi-sig payments, Monero, 2FA, strong anti-fishing measures based on strong cryptography, EXIF metadata stripper for images, PGP encryption & more.
It is designed to benefit not just Smart Money players but recreational users too, with a plan that sees 35% of the monthly rake returned for jackpots, bounties and tournament guarantees. This will help motivate players to play more and boost the pool, which can increase the value of the coin in the long run. It is a promising ICO project and should prove to be popular among players from all over the world.