The Development of the Darknet Market on the Dark web

[Micheal Jorden]

Many different illegal items and services may be traded on darknet markets, often referred to as crypto markets, which provide a largely anonymous trading environment. On darknet markets, drugs are considered to make-up about two-thirds of the offers.

Consequently, although being small when compared with the broader retail drug industry, drug sales in these markets are essential and seem to be growing.

 

The Development of Darknet Market Places

DNMs were developed with the growth of the darknet (also referred to as dark net markets). People started selling illicit information anonymously on the darknet without face-to-face interaction. Ambitious people built infrastructure for these transactions over time, allowing vendors to utilize a digital "storefront" to offer their goods in a centralized marketplace as a swap for a charge.

The development of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, which offered a functional payment method for products transferred, was one technical innovation that dramatically expedited the simplicity of running an illegal business like a DNM on the dark web.

 

However, Ross Ulbricht, a resident of the United States, launched the first DarkNet Market list, referred to as Silk Road, in 2011. Although it had some innocent listings, such as for instance health supplements, the vast majority of the sellers and the majority of the sales were linked to illegal substances. 

Along with bringing a large number of drug dealers together, Silk Road developed a user-friendly interface that appeared to be a clear-net shopping website. After some time, US police managed to apprehend Ulbricht, and Silk Road was confiscated and shut down. Around 177,000 Bitcoin were also confiscated by US law enforcement.

Numerous sizable DNMs have already been founded over time and eventually power down by law authorities, including Wall Street, AlphaBay, Dream Market, and most recently Hydra.

Most of the options that come with earlier marketplaces were used by Hydra, which was almost entirely in Russian and whose sellers were mostly from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and neighboring countries. These features included a user-friendly interface, clear images of the advertised products, seller review systems, and straightforward, escrow-based purchases.

Additionally, vendors on Hydra provided services including "Hacking for Hire," "Ransomware as a Service," and many different money-laundering tools dark web sites. Even though drug trade was restricted to Russia and its immediate neighbors, but anyone on the planet with the methods to pay could utilize the cyber and money laundering capabilities.

 

Track virtual currency exchanges to avoid DNMs

CSAM, the selling of illegal firearms, the sale of illegal drugs, hacking as a service, and money laundering are just a couple examples of unlawful operations that police agencies and regulators are still thinking about locating and disrupting on darknet websites, but how're they approaching this?

 

How are they approaching this with preventive measures?

Police and regulatory partners can identify counterparties and cashout locations used by DNM proprietors using blockchain intelligence tools like TRM, to request documentation from those counterparties to possibly identify the proprietors, their virtual currency holdings, their infrastructure, and their locations. 

Meanwhile, in circumstances when it is successful, police can confiscate the internet infrastructure and remaining virtual currency, as was done in the Silk Road seizure, by fusing this knowledge with other investigative approaches.