Far more seriously, 20 ventilators were stolen from a hospital in the southern state of Oaxaca. And in Honduras, hundreds of N-95 masks intended for public hospitals went missing. With countries and governments desperately outbidding each other to secure needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies to fight COVID-19, gangs moved in to secure their own supply.
Venezuela Arrests Dozens In Crackdown On Black Market Dollars
The anonymity and encryption provided in dark markets create a haven for cybercriminals and nation-state actors to buy and sell dangerous assets while evading detection. Activities on dark-web marketplaces are closely monitored by international law enforcement agencies. Purchasing or selling illegal goods—such as controlled substances, counterfeit documents, or stolen data—can result in significant legal penalties, including fines, criminal charges, and imprisonment. Even users who access these platforms without intent to buy illegal items risk suspicion or investigation. Governments sometimes introduce dual exchange rates during balance of payments crises to limit the short-term impact of capital outflows on domestic prices and international reserves. Sometimes, countries use a complex array of multiple exchange rates in an attempt to resolve specific imbalances.
- But another consequence of the coronavirus kept contraband networks active as well this year.
- Launched in September 2022, Torzon Market operates on the Tor network and features over 11,600 illegal products, including drugs and hacking tools.
- When its link to gold was severed in 1971, as well as during the broader inflation of the 1970s, it lost some of its allure and other currencies such as the West German Mark and Swiss Franc, and gold, gained in popularity.
- The Abacus Market links to the new dark web marketplace sections and took over much of the vacuum left by the AlphaBay takedown.
- They take BTC and Monero, with multi-signature escrow and global shipping—vendors swear by it, and I’ve snagged rare stuff (think DMT or niche scripts) without a hitch.
The return to a “hard” embargo in effect deprives Venezuela of dollars on the international market, even as Caracas is rushing to inject millions of dollars into the market to prevent its exchange rate gap from widening. Despite this move, many organizations, including OVF, continue to publish inflation and exchange rate data—considered essential for the general populace. The data suggests the formal exchange rate could soon reach equilibrium, correcting distortions generated by the black market ecosystem. In economic opinion circles, some have attempted to position the thesis that US oil company Chevron’s reduced operations in Venezuela will cause a “foreign currency drought” and collapse the exchange rate system as operated in recent years.
In her new role, Marta earns considerably more than the minimum wage of just $35 a month she earned selling fruit, giving her the chance to provide for her family. Platforms like SecureDrop enable individuals to submit documents and communicate securely with journalists, thereby exposing corruption and wrongdoings while preserving their anonymity. The significance is in safeguarding the right to free speech and the role of the press as watchdogs. Businesses should be aware of the potential for data leaks and invest in data loss prevention measures. Venezuela, already under sanctions from the US, is expected to get added to a global watchdog’s “gray list” for not making sufficient progress to stem illicit financial flows. In January 2010, according to court documents, Illarramendi transferred $1.8 million to the brokerage Multiplicas Casa de Bolsa.
The Shadow Fleet’s Expanding Reach: How Opaque Oil Trading Will Reshape Global Markets
Virtually every Latin American country saw meat and produce being smuggled, an unsurprising fact in a region with 47 million people still vulnerable to hunger and where an estimated 11.6 percent of all food is wasted. The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict reported that in the first six months of 2016, there were 954 protests over food shortages, an average of five a day, 90 per cent more than in 2015. At least 516 instances of looting or attempted looting occurred in the same period.
Adding Fuel To The Fire
No, black market websites operate illegally and pose high risks of scams, fraud, and law enforcement action. Launched in September 2022, Torzon Market operates on the Tor network and features over 11,600 illegal products, including drugs and hacking tools. Torzon offers a premium account option for additional benefits and is valued at approximately $15 million, accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR). Some are looking for illegal stuff they can’t buy elsewhere, like drugs or counterfeit documents. It was the first big site where people could anonymously buy drugs using Bitcoin, and it gained a lot of attention, until it was shut down by the FBI in 2013.
Colombia: President Petro Denounces Assassination Plot
Then €69 per month.Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Blockchain could provide a more transparent and secure way to track the origin and ownership of oil. By creating an immutable record of each transaction, blockchain can help to verify the authenticity of oil and prevent the sale of sanctioned crude.
Missing The Wider Landscape Of Digital Harms
Dark shipping occurs when vessels intentionally disable or manipulate their automatic identification system (AIS), concealing their location, course, and speed from global tracking systems. These AIS gaps enable tankers to load or unload oil without official reporting, often in regions with weak sanction enforcement, such as international waters. Compared to its predecessors, Archetyp enforced enhanced security expectations from its users.
- But until comprehensive international frameworks are aligned, shadow fleets will continue to operate in the margins—shaping trade flows while challenging the rules that govern them.
- Investigations show that the markers that these entities use to arbitrarily set the dollar price have no economic basis.
- This, authorities argue, is part of a broader economic war waged by powerful groups seeking to destabilize the country.
- Venezuela has witnessed numerous reversals of the flow of contraband oil from within and outside its own borders.
- After the Biker DLC, players can now purchase buildings for illegal drugs and counterfeit products manufacture, and distribute them through a darknet website called “The Open Road” where law enforcement cannot be notified of the player’s trade.
Fewer Than 100 Products Marked A Million At
Figure 4 shows the percentage of shipping origins for all products and counterfeits across all markets. All countries that accounted for 1% or less are aggregated into the category “Other”. While possible shipping destinations are included in the listing data, we did not analyze these as most destinations are listed as “Worldwide” or “Undeclared”, providing only limited information. The distribution of the shipping origins for all products seems to differ from counterfeits.
In an economy largely driven by selling oil for export and importing consumer goods with the proceeds, a lack of foreign currency could severely curtail consumers’ buying power. From that year, Foreign Exchange certificates were issued to the Soviet elite not at the official rate of 0.9 roubles per dollar, but at the black market rate of 4.6 roubles per dollar. A black market developed in the certificates themselves, which traded as high as 6-10 times their nominal value. In the Soviet Union, despite the severe statutory punishments for currency crimes, black market transactions were carried out by practically everybody.
These included an advanced encryption program known as “Pretty Good Privacy” and a cryptocurrency called Monero. Unlike Bitcoin, which records every payment on a public ledger, Monero conceals all transaction details by default, which makes them nearly impossible to trace. The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results. And by focusing so heavily on these hidden platforms, authorities are neglecting the growing digital harms in the spaces we all use.
New Government, New Rules
Here, you’ll find links to various resources, including educational archives, private forums, anonymous services, and more. By consistently applying these straightforward security tips, you can significantly mitigate risks and better protect your privacy, finances, and legal standing when interacting with dark-web marketplaces. Dark-web marketplaces often attract attention due to their association with illicit activities; however, these platforms also serve legitimate purposes that align closely with principles of online privacy and freedom of information. Understanding both the lawful and unlawful scenarios helps provide a balanced view of their practical applications in 2025. Overall, Abacus Market distinguishes itself through rigorous security measures, effective moderation policies, and a strong emphasis on protecting user privacy. Despite minor accessibility inconveniences, these strengths have solidified its position among the top dark-web marketplaces in 2025.
The Full List Of Trusted Darknet Markets:
“Repealing a tax on dollar transactions and allowing dollar transfers to banks again would help ease the pressure on the exchange rate,” he said. President Donald Trump’s administration resumes a hardline stance against Maduro. In recent weeks, the U.S. canceled special licenses that had allowed international energy giants like Chevron, Repsol, and Eni to operate with state-owned oil company PDVSA. These companies now have until May 27 to wind down operations, a move expected to slash vital foreign currency inflows. But companies generally are not hiring, and some businesses are now paying employees in bolivars instead of dollars, which has increased the demand for greenbacks in the black market as exchange houses limit the sums available to the public. Like people in other Latin American countries – and long before their nation came undone in 2013 – Venezuelans have used the U.S. dollar as a safe haven asset and see the exchange rate as a measure of the economy’s health.
During the 1970s, however, Colombia’s central bank opened a dedicated facility – the “sinister window” – where unlimited amounts of US dollars could be exchanged at prevailing black market rates. It allowed cocaine traffickers to launder their earnings while allowing the government to take a slice of their profits. 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.
Below, I’m breaking down each market with everything I’ve picked up—listings, quirks, the works. Retailers, restaurants, and small businesses now face audits, hefty fines, and even forced closures for pricing goods using the parallel rate—despite the reality that many imported products are priced in dollars. “We risk fines which would mean shutting down the business, as they’re unaffordable,” a Caracas shopkeeper told the Financial Times, requesting anonymity for fear of government reprisal.
