Dark Web Markets

A dark web market is a commercial website that specialises in selling illicit goods. Located on an encrypted network hidden from most of the internet and accessible only through specialised anonymity-providing tools, the sites are typically used by cybercriminals searching for illegal products online that can help them carry out their criminal activities. These include drugs, stolen or counterfeit documents, hacking tools and services, and even weaponry and counterfeit money.

The first modern dark marketplace was the Silk Road, which ran from 2011 to 2013 and served as the template for subsequent markets that have come to dominate the underground global digital black market. Many of these marketplaces operate via Tor to provide anonymous access and are powered by Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that enables the participants to exchange items without being traced. The marketplaces also typically provide escrow services, a key security feature that reduces the risk of scam sales and site hacking.

These markets vary widely in specialisation, technology and primary supported language but all facilitate the trade of illicit goods between authorised buyers and sellers. Many offer a variety of payment methods, but Bitcoin is the most popular. Some markets are run by groups of administrators, while others are run by individual sellers or vendors who act as brokers. Most are hosted in cloud infrastructure and use blockchain technology to track transactions, but some are run on private servers.

In recent years, several markets have been closed by police or by their own administrators. These takedowns have been particularly damaging to the marketplaces, as they often have no mechanism to reopen once closed.

Despite the recent closure of the Monopoly Market, the majority of the 103 active marketplaces in our dataset continued to thrive. In fact, some of the newer marketplaces grew significantly in size and audience, including one, OMG, which appears to have gained significant traffic from Hydra’s users after the latter’s shutdown.

One of the most interesting Dark web markets trends is the growing dominance of a type of dark marketplace known as a single vendor shop. These are standalone shops set up by individual drug vendors who have accumulated a customer base on another marketplace and wish to save the fees that would otherwise go to the administrators of a traditional darknet market.

Another trend is the proliferation of markets that offer “dead-drop” courier services. These offer to deliver a package from a seller to a buyer at an agreed-upon destination using encrypted messaging and a cryptographically secure address. This is a major security concern for law enforcement, but it’s difficult to control as many of these services are operated by third parties that are outside the marketplace.