Specifically, the I2P darknet is accessible, while the Tor network is accessible through the Orchid Outproxy Tor plugin. The only difference is that it passes your traffic through random nodes before reaching the destination. This means your activities cannot be traced or your browser history exposed. Initially, the dark web was mainly used by government agencies, big businesses, hackers, and cybercriminals. However, technological advancements such as encryption and privacy-focused browsers like Tor enabled the general public to access it. Some of the deep web sites do not use standard top-level domains (TLD) such as .gov, .com, .net, etc.
Darknet Markets
In years past, these organizations were more overt in their display of such products, openly advertising on mainstream B2B websites. Depending on the severity of the chemical, some manufacturers still follow this practice. While not all are pictured above, in total, we found 16 vendors either selling or sourcing drug material from Abacus and purchasing production supplies from this China-based vendor. Below is a screenshot from the Abacus Market website showing the range of items it sells, with drugs and chemicals representing the overwhelming majority of its products. Since 2021, Abacus Market’s revenue has increased substantially, and in 2024, it more than doubled, growing by 183.2% YoY. This increase may be due in part to the closures of top DNMs, the shift to the exclusive acceptance of XMR by other active markets, and delistings of XMR by popular centralized exchanges.
Alphabay reigns supreme with 60,000+ listings and $20M monthly trades, dominating 20% of darknet commerce via BTC and XMR. Its 25,000+ users and 3,000+ vendors trust its unmatched escrow and scale. ASAP Market offers 25,000+ listings and $4 million monthly across BTC, XMR, LTC, and USDT, with a 7% share. Its 14,000+ users and 1,000+ vendors leverage multi-crypto flexibility for seamless darknet trading.
Torrez Boosts Vendor Network By 200+
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. Others sell pirated eBooks, academic materials, and entire premium courses ripped straight from paid platforms.
These attacks usually involve DDOSing (overloading) the service and demanding a crypto payment from the site admins to stop the attack. Exploit.in, founded in 2005, is another prominent Russian hacker forum. Operating on both the dark web and the surface web, Exploit.in serves as a hub for malicious actors seeking to buy and sell exploits, malware, and stolen data. The forum is notorious for its role in facilitating unauthorized access to networks and distributing malware. Customer reviews found on the Abacus site indicate that some of its American vendors sell drug products laced with fentanyl. Western drug flows in particular come from US-domiciled exchanges and trace flows from those to darknet markets.
UAPS: The Takedown Of A Fraud Shop Payment Processor And Its Impact On Ecosystem
Fraud-related products, consumer electronicselectronics, self-defense products, and even hosting. Its extra layer of encryption has afforded protection to activists in oppressive regimes fighting for civil rights and free speech. SecureDrop has been used by journalists to communicate with anonymous sources, and encrypted email service ProtonMail developed by MIT and CERN is another well-known denizen of the darknet.
- Avoid those below 90% or with no escrow history—scams cost $500K+ in 2024.
- With advanced dark web monitoring, threat intelligence, and brand protection services, we help you uncover hidden dangers, prevent data breaches, and safeguard your reputation.
- Its listings include stolen credit cards, hacked bank accounts, and cryptocurrency laundering tools.
- MarsMarket targets the recreational niche with a sleek UI, active community, and tools that simplify negotiation between buyers and “Martian” merchants.
- Researchers tracking these groups noted that Telegram’s broadcast and bot features allowed operators to recreate the functionality of darknet forums almost overnight.
Vendors like “ShadowChem” and “CyberForge” maintain 99% ratings, offering reliable goods with 95% shipping success. Abacus’s history—launching in 2022, surviving a 2024 DDoS attack, and growing listings by 20% in 2025—underscores its resilience. Its top-tier status stems from its balance of scale, reliability, and usability, making it the gold standard for darknet trading in 2025.
DrugHub Market
Top 10 markets enhance encryption and uptime (e.g., Alphabay at 97%) to counter a 20% rise in 2024 seizures. This resilience, seen in 90%+ uptime, ensures continuity despite 10% of trades impacted annually. Follow our Trends section—e.g., ASAP’s USDT cuts fees 20%, Incognito’s 2FA slashes scams 15%. Darknet forums and X posts reveal shifts (e.g., XMR’s rise to 40% in 2025), keeping you ahead of scams and law enforcement moves impacting 10% of trades. Use PGP (e.g., GPG or Kleopatra) to encrypt vendor messages—unencrypted comms risk interception by 10% of darknet actors in 2025. Generate a unique key pair, share your public key, and verify vendors’ keys via their profiles.
Emerging Darknet Marketplaces Of 2025 Anatomy Tactics & Trends
Our platform ensures that your brand stays one step ahead of cybercriminals, giving you peace of mind in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Explore how Brandefense can empower your brand to thrive securely, even in the shadow of the dark web. Incognito’s 800+ vendors, rated 4.7/5 across 30,000+ reviews, focus on drugs (65%), with digital goods (20%) and fraud tools (10%) rounding out its 20,000+ listings. Response times average 12 hours, with a 94% shipping reliability rate, supported by a 95% escrow success rate—disputes are resolved in 36 hours for 90% of cases. Vendors like “DarkMedic” and “GhostCode” excel with 98% ratings, benefiting from Incognito’s mandatory 2FA, which keeps scams below 1%. Its privacy-first approach attracts quality vendors, though its smaller size limits scale compared to Torrez.
The torch passed to dedicated darknet forums, often on the Tor network, which allowed marketplaces and vendor reputation systems to emerge. Its mobile-first design, ease of channel creation, and semi-anonymous architecture made it an attractive choice for actors who needed speed and reach more than secrecy. Bohemia uses AES-256 without PGP or 2FA, a basic approach for its 11,000+ users, maintaining 91% uptime with basic DDoS protection. Its 92% escrow success rate resolves disputes in 48 hours for 85% of cases, reliable but trailing modern security standards in 2025.
- Even people with little to no knowledge can buy ready-made ransomware and launch attacks on their victims.
- As cyber threat intelligence professionals monitor these markets, they gain insights into emerging threats and malicious activities that can impact organizations and individuals.
- As new marketplaces emerge, pivot to specialized niches, or migrate to more covert communication channels, cybercriminals remain steps ahead, continually refining their methods.
- 85% of top 10 markets use escrow (up from 60% in 2023), with Alphabay at 99% success.
- In 2017, the website went offline following a law enforcement action taken by the American, Canadian, and Thai authorities, but since August 2021, it’s been operational again.
Featured Darknet Marketplaces
Alphabay Market storms the top tier at #5, a giant with $20 million monthly trades and a 20% market share—the largest in our rankings. Relaunched in 2021, it hosts 60,000+ listings—drugs (50%), digital goods (25%), fraud tools (15%), counterfeit currencies (5%)—serving 25,000+ users and 3,000+ vendors. Its escrow system is unmatched at 99% success, resolving 95% of disputes in 24 hours, while its onion routing boasts a 97% uptime, scaling seamlessly despite its size. Torrez Market earns its top-tier status at #8 with the largest vendor network in our rankings—1,500+ strong—and a robust $6 million monthly trade volume, securing a 9% market share.
Did The Silk Road Marketplace Go Under?
It locks your messages so only the right person can read them—super handy when you’re dealing with sensitive stuff on the dark web. Markets like Incognito even nudge you to use it for extra peace of mind. Look for ratings below 90% or no escrow—common red flags on markets like Torrez.
For instance, buying fake documents may indirectly support larger operations involving trafficking, extortion, or organized crime. Revenues for the fraud shops on the right side of the chart declined, suggesting their dependence on UAPS for payment infrastructure. While the US market is best characterized by its diverse product offerings, other countries offer regional specialties. In Colombia, for instance, many of the vendor listings are for cocaine or Infrastructure-as-a-Service, as seen in the screenshot below. On Abacus Market, the US, Canada, Germany, Australia, and the UK have the highest number of listings. In the US, there’s a large diversity in the types of products sold, including counterfeit pills.
Some vendors offer services to help people “clean” illegally obtained funds using cryptocurrency and fake transactions. They mix and transfer funds through various privacy wallets and escrow services to hide the original source and make the illicit transactions harder to trace. It has a search option to let you find local and international products and services on the dark web. A lot of vendors from all over the world are registered here, offering an extensive range of products, including digital services, security tools, and other equipment.
Strict user verification processes aim to filter out potential scammers and law enforcement infiltrators. BidenCash’s rapid rise and free “preview” dumps make it a hotspot for those seeking fresh financial data, though it also faces constant scrutiny from cybersecurity professionals. Operating since 2014, Brian’s Club is a long-running marketplace devoted to stolen credit card information, including dumps and CVVs.
