However, if we’re being honest, the majority of activity on darknet markets involves illegal or heavily regulated items. A 2020 study found that almost 57% of sites on the Tor network hosted some form of illegal content. The data collection and analysis steps are presented on the flowchart in Figure 1 and explained below.
Russian Market has consistently remained one of the most popular and valuable data stores on the dark web. Its affordability and reliability have earned it a loyal customer base. The platform’s activity has increased significantly over the past year, indicating its growing influence and market share in the underground economy. STYX Market focuses specifically on financial fraud, making it a go-to destination for cybercriminals engaged in this activity. To expand their reach, some marketplaces established parallel channels on Telegram.
Who Needs The Dark Web? Drug Sales Flourish On Social Media
With over 17,000 listings and 3,200 vendors, it became a central hub for the dark web drug trade. Keeping to the trend witnessed in 2023, Russian-language darknet marketplaces continue to be responsible for the vast majority of revenue generated, contributing over 97% to the overall volume of illicit drug sales (up more than 1% from 2023) in bitcoin and TRON. Over the last year, the online illicit drug trade has continued to decentralize away from darknet markets and towards encrypted chat and social media platforms. This trend, already prevalent in Western communities, has been increasingly seen in the Russian-language ecosystem as well. The shutdown of Archetyp, a major dark web drug market, demonstrates that law enforcement takedowns have only short-term effects, as such markets quickly re-emerge and adapt.
Dark web markets have exploded in scale and reach in 2025, becoming the most dangerous hubs for trading drugs, stolen data, and hacking tools. These anonymous marketplaces—operating mainly on the Tor network—are now a primary threat vector for businesses and cybersecurity professionals. You can use dark web monitoring tools, such as NordVPN’s Dark Web Monitor, to check if your data has been leaked. These tools scan dark web forums and marketplaces for any signs of your compromised credentials. There is no need to visit darknet marketplaces yourself to know whether your data was leaked. In fact, everything is in English, and the site picks up users everywhere in the world.
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State, local, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation RapTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships, as well as the multi-agency Special Operations Division. Immediately change your passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and notify your bank or credit card provider if the leaked information includes your financial data. You should also consider freezing your credit to prevent identity theft.
The Analysis Steps
It is a hub for financial cybercrime and offers a wide range of illicit services and stolen data that cater to sophisticated cybercriminals. Based on our observations from analysis on dark web data using Lunar, we’ve identified the top 7 marketplaces on the dark web in 2025. We developed Lunar to monitor the deep and dark web, including dark web marketplace sites. Darknet marketplaces in 2025 illustrate a resilient and evolving underground economy. Major active platforms include Abacus, Russian Market, BriansClub, and Exodus.
- Open-source intelligence gathered in the aftermath shows how the dark web infrastructure responded and what this reveals about its resilience.
- Silk Road 2.0 was launched soon after the original Silk Road was seized and since that time there has been a proliferation of darknet markets..
- He recommends verifying market employees carefully, and to weed out law enforcement infiltration through barium meal tests.
- Exodus Marketplace emerged in early 2024 as a successor to Genesis Market, focusing on malware-harvested device logs.
- The seized drugs included 141 pounds of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics, more than 569 pounds of amphetamines, 95 pounds of cocaine, 95 pounds of MDMA and 22 pounds of LSD and ecstasy pills, authorities said.
- OFAC’s designation of Parsarad was the result of strong partnership and coordination with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, FinCEN, and a range of European law enforcement partners.
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With an estimated market value of around $15 million, it has grown into a massive hub for cybercriminal activity. Archetyp Market sellers provided the market’s customers with access to high volumes of drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, cannabis, MDMA, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl through more than 3,200 registered vendors and over 17,000 listings. 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. A hundred and seventy-nine people were arrested in seven countries, a hundred and twenty-one of them in the U.S.
However, a combination of law enforcement crackdowns, increasing instability from new users flooding the dark web from Telegram, and infighting among the larger markets has triggered a shift. Many of these big markets are now engaged in cyber warfare, with vendors and operators attacking each other to assert dominance, often leading to disruptions and shutdowns. This “market cannibalization” has further destabilized the landscape, pushing vendors and buyers to seek refuge in smaller, more secure spaces. While the above-mentioned examples of interventions effectively reduced the volume of the darknet drug trade, the policy recommendations presented above were designed to be implemented among potential customers. Since some users purchase on the darknet because they do not want to risk a personal meeting with dealers, darknet markets extend the range of potential users (Pergolizzi et al., 2017). While these users might be deterred from purchasing drugs, the effectiveness of influencing the risk perception of actual darknet market customers who may be addicted drug users is questionable.
The operation targeted Archetyp Market, a platform with over 600,000 users and transactions totaling at least 250 million euros, underscoring the scale and ongoing challenge of illicit drug sales facilitated by anonymizing technologies. Today’s action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets proliferators of narcotics and their means of production, underscores the United States’ commitment to combatting all means of supplying narcotics to the United States. Treasury remains focused on the risks posed by darknet marketplaces, as highlighted in previous designations of Genesis Market on April 5, 2023, and of Hydra Market on April 5, 2022.
The 10 Biggest Dark Web Markets In 2025 – Updated List & Security Insights
As darknet markets grow more fragmented and boutique, traditional law enforcement methods are becoming increasingly ineffective. The shift toward specialized platforms with heightened security measures makes tracking illicit activity even more challenging, requiring innovative approaches and advanced tools. CACI’s DarkBlue Intelligence Suite is designed to address these exact challenges, offering comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the dark web’s most secure and decentralized spaces. With AI-enhanced threat detection, real-time dark web access through DarkPursuit, and detailed insights into evolving criminal networks, DarkBlue provides the intelligence needed to stay one step ahead in this rapidly changing environment. This shift poses unique challenges for law enforcement, who must adapt traditional monitoring methods.
If you’re into a darknet market with a community pulse and solid uptime, Bohemia Dark Market’s climbing the ranks—give it a spin if you like a vibe that’s less corporate, more crew. Ultimately, the fight against crypto crime requires a proactive, collaborative approach. Regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, and private sector partners must continue to adapt, innovate, and cooperate to outpace increasingly sophisticated threat actors. Central to this effort is the use of advanced blockchain intelligence tools, which provide critical insights for tracing illicit transactions, identifying threat actors, and supporting enforcement actions. The progress made in disrupting illicit networks demonstrates the impact of collective action, but sustained vigilance and adaptability — empowered by cutting-edge blockchain analytics — will be essential to securing the crypto ecosystem in the years ahead.
Office Of The Chief Data Officer
The market is known for its extensive product listings and reputation system that helps buyers evaluate the reliability of vendors. Here’s a look at the top 10 dark web markets currently dominating this underground space. One Archetyp Market moderator and six of the marketplace’s highest vendors were also arrested in Germany and Sweden. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
- I’ve poked around; it’s not overwhelming, just a tight selection that works—think curated over chaotic.
- Silk Road was eventually shut down by the FBI in October 2013, following the arrest of Ross Ulbricht.
- Axis Intelligence provides dark web surveillance solutions that help businesses identify leaked credentials, fraud attempts, and malware risks before they escalate.
- We have discovered, downloaded, and studied only 1 large darknet marketplace, “Hydra,” and selection and generalization biases can appear.
- Combined with encrypted access via the TOR network, the darknet enables nearly invisible marketplaces for drugs, weapons, data, and much more.
It also has a dual-wallet system and accepts Bitcoin and Monero as payment methods. Empire Market is one of the most popular darknet markets, with a user-friendly interface and a vast selection of products. It has a dual-wallet system, which means users can keep their funds in a secure wallet or a spending wallet. Empire Market also has a reputation system, where buyers can leave feedback for vendors, ensuring a higher level of trust and accountability. Of course, not all activity on the dark web is criminal, but such marketplaces are where a lot of illegal trade and money laundering happens.
International
Despite this, the darknet is probably better known for its hosting of drug marketplaces, such as the Silk Road, black markets and cyber attack services to name a few. Its very design makes the darknet a hotspot for criminal activity, and so this has become synonymous with this section of the web. White House Market is another popular darknet market, known for its strict security measures.
Cypher Marketplace
In fact, by 2013, a Guardian article revealed that about 70% of listings were drug-related. 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.
