Perhaps it won’t be Silk Road 2.0, or even Tor Hidden Services that transform the drugs trade. Dark net markets make drugs more available more easily, and that’s nothing to celebrate. It will, I suspect, tend towards higher levels of use, which — legal or illegal — creates misery. With so much money floating around these sites — dealers can make good money without leaving home — some vendors try to game the review system. Common tricks include creating fake accounts from which to post positive feedback; writing bad reviews of competitors; and even paying others to give favourable write-ups. The first thing that strikes you on signing up to Silk Road 2.0 is the choice.
Start Your Day With Fact-based News
Judging by that buzzing trade, there’s little hint that just the week before, global law enforcement announced the takedowns of two of the world’s largest dark-web drug sites, known as Wall Street Market and Valhalla. Or that the most popular market, called Dream, had taken itself offline at the end of last month, perhaps sensing law enforcement closing in. Or that a multiagency US law enforcement task force devoted to stemming opioid sales on the dark web arrested more than 60 people in a major operation the month before. Before escrow systems became commonplace, Marie once fell prey to a so-called “exit scam.” That’s when a dealer who plans to stop selling on a marketplace continues to take orders that they never plan to fulfill. “Except for those three times, I never got shorted, and the product ranged from good to excellent quality,” she noted.
On Dread, the reactions to the recent law enforcement activity were a mix of dismay and defiance. “Are there any trustworthy markets left?” one user wrote, complaining that they used the dark web markets as a source for anti-seizure drug Lyrica and now had no good source. “This is so fucked up man, we have the right to do whatever we want to our bodies.”
Archetyp Market operated as a drug marketplace for over five years, amassing more than 600,000 users worldwide with a total transaction volume of at least €250 million. With over 17,000 listings, it is one of the few darknet markets that allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids, contributing to the growing threat posed by these substances in Europe and beyond. Archetyp launched in May 2020 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular dark web markets with an estimated total transaction volume of €250 million (A$446 million).
I, for one, have basically given up on Washington, DC’s street “heroin.” Distressingly, it’s mostly oddly colored fentanyl. The vast majority of “down,” as they call the dreary, unpleasant stuff, doesn’t even contain heroin. Plus, the far-too-common grey sort (known confusingly as “grey death,” despite often being on the weaker side) is rather hard to inject. A pale, ashy shade in powder form, it turns pitch-black when mixed with water. This opaqueness makes the flash of blood impossible to see, so you never quite know whether you’ve hit a vein.
CPAP Data Breach Exposes 90k Records Of Military-Linked Customers
Bitcoin, with its widespread adoption, offers a balance between accessibility and security, while Monero provides enhanced privacy features, making it the preferred choice for users prioritizing anonymity. These currencies enable seamless cross-border transactions without the need for intermediaries, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. As these markets continue to grow, they are likely to incorporate even more sophisticated features, such as AI-driven recommendations and enhanced security protocols. The future of darknet drug trade lies in its ability to adapt to technological advancements while maintaining the core principles of privacy and reliability. A new, technically advanced market called White House has also been launched, gaining 10,000 listings, 100,000 users and many trusted vendors.
SALES AND TURNOVER HAVE BOTH INCREASED
The law enforcement response to the rise of Silk Road and its brethren about a decade ago has mainly focused on trying to shut down the marketplaces and prosecute their operators. Silk Road was shut down in 2013 by the FBI and its creator, Ross Ulbricht, got two life sentences. Almost immediately, former administrators of Silk Road built Silk Road 2.0. In 2014, in the second year of operation, that was also shut down by law enforcement. Successor after successor has since popped up, with drug-related darknet marketplaces surviving an average of 232 days before their shutdown and inevitable reincarnation.
Online Drug Markets Are Entering A ‘Golden Age’
In total, law enforcement officers seized 47 smartphones, 45 computers, narcotics, and assets worth €7.8 million from all suspects during Operation Deep Sentinel. TRM Labs observed that deposits on the site fell sharply in early July—from $230,000 per day across 1,400 transactions to just $13,000 per day spread over 100 transactions. Vendors in the UK have reported little to no interruption in drug supply, except for quality hashish, which has been unavailable since mid-March. Authorities seized $31.6 in cash and cryptocurrency as part of the operation. Dark Web Marketplaces selling prescription pharmaceuticals conjure up a plethora of issues, for example the pharmaceuticals for sale on Anon Market may be low quality / counterfeit with no valid indication on quality, ingredients, strength or where they’ve come from.
Challenges For Law Enforcement
It features a compulsory Bitcoin-Monero converter at checkout, allowing vendors to be paid in Monero, a more anonymous cryptocurrency. Furthermore, a new kind of market, named Monopoly, was launched in January, enabling wallet-less, account-less transactions. Vendors are paid direct by customers, protecting users’ funds from hackers or exit scams. Silk Road, AlphaBay, WallStreet and Monopoly Market are all familiar names in the digital graveyard of the dark web. Before these dark web marketplaces were shutdown, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms. Last September, another international police sting, Operation DisrupTor, announced the results of a push to catch drug dealers and other criminals who had used Wall Street Market.
Feds Dismantled The Dark-Web Drug Trade—but It’s Already Rebuilding
Known for its publicity stunt releasing millions of stolen card details for free, BidenCash specializes in credit card fraud and identity theft. Freshtools was established in 2019 and offers various stolen credentials, accounts, and host protocols like RDP. It is considered a go-to site for malware purchasing, providing keyloggers, trojans, and other Malware as a Service products. Russian Market has consistently remained one of the most popular and valuable data stores on the dark web.
- A new, Reddit-style forum site called Dread, hosted on a Tor hidden service, has already replaced the seized DeepDotWeb as a community hub, where users discuss which site to use when one is taken down by police or turns out to be run by scammers.
- WizardShop has solidified its status as one of the best data stores in the dark web by providing an impressive quantity of quality data as well as providing a trustworthy, easy to use interface allowing criminals easy and secure buying and selling.
- The indictment charges Pavey and Hamilton with conspiring with each other and others to engage in drug trafficking, computer fraud, access device fraud, counterfeiting, and money laundering.
- Attacks on drug marketplaces may be interpreted as a possible fight for certain influence in that niche in Dark Web and likely arranged by competing powers representing different groups involved in drug trafficking internationally.
- The integration of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero remains a cornerstone of these platforms.
- This process is accelerated by the availability of Instant Messengers (IMs) and Automated Bots which allow the distribution of information across available digital channels with relatively high levels of anonymity.
As of June this year, there are 30 percent more, with 36,000 deals listed. Analysis by VICE News, EU agencies and tech firms reveal that, boosted by coronavirus panic buying, online sales of cannabis, MDMA, cocaine and mephedrone are all flourishing at, or above, prior averages. On the most popular global market, Empire, where many retailers offered lockdown deals, business has been especially brisk, with thousands of positive reviews about drug quality and speed of delivery. Not all of the arrests appear to trace directly or exclusively back to the DarkMarket takedown; court documents show that in many cases, suspicious packages provided an initial tipoff.
In the summer of 2017, Dream market, the second-biggest at that time, had just 48,000 deals. At the time of writing, there has been no confirmation from law enforcement. But for the thousands of users left in the dark—many now locked out of their cryptocurrency funds—the damage appears to be done. The site’s best month was June 2025, during which Abacus reportedly handled over $6.3 million in sales. Users started reporting withdrawal issues and delays, prompting concern on darknet forums.
Experience the power of The DarkBlue Intelligence Suite and get proactive in your fight against cybercrime. Request a free trial today and strengthen your ability to track and disrupt illicit activities on the dark web. Some of us who use drugs are lucky enough to have physical access to a safe supply. The whole idea just seems so sketchy to me and it seems pretty easy to get caught I know police are after the sellers not the buyers but still I’d be too paranoid to buy drugs off the internet. For all of the money spent by police in these investigations, it’s fair to say that the net result from a user’s perspective is simply the inconvenience of a few searches, followed by registration at a new service. The dark web model endures because it offers great efficiencies to dealers and users.
Subscribe To Our Blog For More News And Updates!
In September, 2019, Xennt and most of his lieutenants were arrested in a nearby restaurant, as German police made a spectacular raid on the bunker. Shortly afterward, eight people were charged with facilitating two hundred and forty-nine thousand criminal transactions. Mega provides an automated exchange service and a built-in wallet to process cryptocurrencies. To further attract buyers of drugs from other underground communities, the actors behind the Mega frequently organize “Black Friday” discounts to stimulate the sellers, by doing so offering lower commission rates from their sales.
