However, legal bodies and law enforcement operations made this impossible and shut down these illegal communities. Genesis Market and BidenCash, two top dark web marketplaces, were also shut down in 2023 and 2025, respectively. The marketplace supports multiple payment methods, including Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Cryptocheck. They add new batches of stolen data every other week, and there’s even a bidding system where buyers can place offers on new data batches as soon as they become available. Just as there are new entrants, the dark web has its veteran markets too, and Brian’s Club is one such market.
Are All Products On Darknet Markets Illegal?
But these efforts of law enforcement don’t go in vain; hackers and criminals lose trust if a website or marketplace goes down. According to a recent trend, the dark marketplaces faced a decline in revenue. Chainanalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, conducted research that shows that the revenue decreased from $3.1 billion (2021) to $2 billion (2024). As mentioned earlier, launching a cyberattack doesn’t require any hacking skills. Even people with zero technical knowledge can buy phishing kits, ransomware, or stolen logins.
At the same time, darknet markets remain highly “resilient” as well as “viable and widespread despite turnover due to takedowns, shutdowns and exits,” Flashpoint’s Gray said. The question of are there any active darknet markets is a pressing one in today’s digital landscape. The darknet is a part of the internet that isn’t indexed by traditional search engines like Google. It often facilitates anonymous transactions, making it a hub for various legal and illegal activities. The Dark Web—a hidden part of the internet accessible only through specialized software like Tor—has become increasingly significant as we enter 2025.
Why You Need Automated Dark Web Monitoring
We can only hope that the current largest and oldest markets will retire with honor. That prevents small dealers from participating in the market and a natural tendency towards fewer but larger dealers on those markets,” Fiedler told Decrypt. Darknet markets have surpassed their 2019 revenue this year with a month to spare, according to a report published by Chainalysis yesterday. Launched in 2021, Abacus Market caters primarily to English-speaking users. Then the courier writes down the GPS coordinates and the buyer receives it with a message that the package is ready pick-up.
Darknet Markets Made More Money Than Ever In 2020
The UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) maintains that almost all firearms are originally manufactured through legal means. So, what even is this dark web, and why are these marketplaces present there? Purchases through links on our pages may yield affiliate revenue for us. We review and list tools and products without bias, regardless of potential commissions. Cybersecurity experts should pay close attention to these trends, as they often indicate emerging threats and profit-generating tactics among the cybercriminal forums.
- Although dark-web marketplaces utilize technologies like Tor and I2P to enhance anonymity, these methods are not foolproof.
- Abacus Market has emerged as one of the most reputable and widely used dark-web marketplaces in 2025.
- That’s why this method is available only in Russia and CIS big cities.
- Serious violations, such as selling fake or dangerous products, may result in a permanent ban from the market.
- Darknet marketplaces emerged around 2011, with Silk Road setting the standard for how these platforms operate.
- This further complicates monitoring efforts because now you need to search for the related Telegram channels and track activity there and on the marketplace itself.
How To Protect Your Identity While Browsing The Dark Web
Darknet markets trace their origins to the early 2000s, with the advent of Tor in 2002 by the U.S. The first notable marketplace, Silk Road, launched in 2011 by Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), revolutionized online black markets by integrating Tor, Bitcoin, and an escrow system. However, the success of law enforcement is just one possible explanation for this decline. This trend is backed up by the data, which shows a sharp decline in the number of transfers sent to darknet markets, but an increase in total revenue. In the below graph, the currencies included are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Tether. Unlike many other dark web markets, Cypher does not require buyers to deposit cryptocurrency upfront, which reduces the risk of exit scams.
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At the time, it had over 600,000 users, 17,000 listings, and approximately €250 million in transactions. Authorities seized €7.8 million and arrested operators in Germany, Spain, Sweden, Romania, the Netherlands, and the US Europol leads takedown of Archetyp. This article reveals the top 10 dark web markets dominating in 2025, their unique characteristics, and the critical implications for enterprise cybersecurity. In 2019, there were approximately 8,400 active sites on the dark web, selling thousands of products and services daily. If you picture the internet in terms of an iceberg, then the surface web, where we are right now, would form the tip of that iceberg. Accounting for just 4% of the entire web, the surface web is the portion with which people are most familiar.
ASAP Market (Best For Drug-Free Listings)
In fact, by 2013, a Guardian article revealed that about 70% of listings were drug-related. Too-good-to-be-true investment offers are another classic scam on the dark web. Early participants may see some profit, but that money usually comes from new victims, not actual earnings. Eventually, the system collapses, and most people lose their entire investment.
We’ll explore their unique features, common use-cases—both legitimate and illicit—and the significant risks users face when interacting with these platforms. Classic darknet markets sell diverse illegal goods; data stores focus on leaked or stolen data like credentials, databases, and ID records. In some countries, simply using the dark web or Tor network is also illegal.
Hydra Market met a similar demise to the Silk Road when it was shut down by German police in April 2022. Perhaps one of the most well-known functions of the darknet is its hosting of large-scale drug markets. This was no more visible than with the rise of the Silk Road marketplace in the early 2010s. Founded by Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), the Silk Road sold a large variety of items, but was an infamous drug marketplace – with drugs accounting for 70% of the drugs sold in spring 2013.
Those who use these services can still be traced and prosecuted if caught, especially as law enforcement continues to sharpen its tracking tools. Once many users begin to rely on the site and store funds in escrow, the operators disappear, taking all the money with them and leaving their customers and clients with nothing. Imagine trusting a site where you’ve been buying or selling for months, and everything seems legit. Some marketplace operators first build trust by running a legitimate platform. Some sellers offer cracked versions of expensive software that you’d typically pay hundreds of dollars for.
Implications For Security Leaders
This extra privacy makes it much harder for authorities to track down who runs these markets and where they are located. For these reasons, most of these stores naturally like the dark web due to its protection. BidenCash and other exit-scam markets such as Torzon and Kingdom Market collapsed between 2022 and 2024.
These days, it lists over 11,600 illegal items, including hard drugs, hacking tools, and all kinds of cybercrime services. Darknet marketplaces in 2025 illustrate a resilient and evolving underground economy. Major active platforms include Abacus, Russian Market, BriansClub, and Exodus. Law enforcement takedowns, such as Archetyp, demonstrate both impact and adversary adaptation. For cybersecurity professionals, focusing on payment methods, vendor migration, and marketplace specialisation offers the most effective path to actionable intelligence.
One of the things STYX is infamous for is having a rigorous verification process for users that makes it seem more exclusive. They even have a Telegram channel to provide their clients with live updates. Like most of the markets, STYX supports Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR), and other crypto tokens to keep everyone’s identity hidden on this marketplace. You can even find things such as BIN checkers and PayPal cookie converters. Another reason the Russian Market is so popular is that it’s pretty inexpensive compared to other dark web marketplaces.
