I grabbed mine from the official site a while back after dodging a sketchy mirror that tried to sneak in some junk software. Watch our cyber team share their key insights from their investigations into the biggest dark web trends in 2022. Abacus’s exit follows the June 16, 2025 law enforcement seizure of Archetyp Market, marking the latest in a series of shutdowns in the Western DNM ecosystem. Another way to gauge people’s interest in the Dark Web is to examine the percentage of those who look up the term “Dark Web” on Google.
How Do I Verify Onion Routing Links?
For example, confirm Alphabay’s link via community threads to dodge scams costing $1M+ annually. Don’t let the humorous name lead you to think this isn’t a serious best darknet market, because it is. This is a rather strange marketplace since it’s quite small and the vendors on the website have been chosen by the owners to sell on the website. It consists of websites specifically designed to be anonymous and only accessible through special software like Tor. These websites use complex addresses ending in “.onion” instead of familiar “.com” endings.
It has built a reputation for being a reliable source of stolen credit card data and PII. Renowned for its extensive inventory of financial data and sophisticated operating methods, Brian’s Club is a key player in the underground economy of financial cybercrime. It is a hub for financial cybercrime and offers a wide range of illicit services and stolen data that cater to sophisticated cybercriminals.
How Much Is Stolen Data Sold For On Darknet Markets?
While Bitcoin remains the most widely used cryptocurrency, it is subject to enhanced monitoring techniques, driving many illicit actors to diversify into coins offering built-in anonymity features. The Darknet is in constant flux, shaped by technological innovations, shifting user behaviors, and law enforcement crackdowns. To understand how these hidden marketplaces operate and why they continue to flourish, it’s useful to examine the primary trends that define today’s underground economy. A series of law enforcement takedowns in the last few years have shaped the 2024 drug and fraud ecosystems. While 2024 was likely a record year for crypto crime revenue overall, darknet market (DNM) and fraud shop inflows fell, with DNMs receiving just over $2 billion in BTC on-chain, and fraud shops $225 million.
How Big Was Crypto Crime In 2023?
Various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero can be used to make purchases. One of the most common is the exit scam, where a marketplace suddenly disappears and takes everyone’s money with it. Ransomware and cryptocurrency-based crimes saw a significant increase in 2023, with a nearly $176 million rise compared to 2022.
Phishing Attacks
Rated at 4.6/5 across 25,000+ reviews, these vendors maintain a 95% shipping reliability rate, though response times average 18 hours due to their niche focus. Disputes occur in 3% of transactions, with 80% resolved within 48 hours, supported by a 93% escrow success rate. Top vendors like “PharmaKing” and “MediSource” offer exclusive medications, driving Drughub’s 10% drug trade share, though its smaller pool limits variety outside pharma. Incognito’s payment system pulls a 95% success rate, clearing 90% of disputes in 36 hours—a sign of its focus on user trust.
TRM Labs analysis shows that nearly half of the marketplaces launched in 2024 accepted only Monero — a sharp increase from just over one-third in 2023. This signals a growing preference among darknet operators for obfuscation and anti-surveillance tools. Cryptocurrency-enabled drug sales also grew by over 19% from 2023 to 2024, reaching nearly USD 2.4 billion in volume. As home to marketplaces that sell items like illegal drugs and firearms, the Dark Web can be extremely dangerous. Because it is anonymous, it also provides safety to drug dealers, hackers, and other criminals.
- The dark web is so dark that it allows you to view content that search engines haven’t even indexed, and it can’t be reached on traditional web browsers.
- They often sell illegal drugs, hacking tools, fake IDs, stolen data and other contraband.
- Exodus Marketplace started to become popular after the shutdown of Genesis Market, and it replaced it successfully.
- At 82%, Japan has the largest share of people unfamiliar with the concept of the Dark Web.
Shuttered Dark Web Marketplaces
Incognito channels 20,000+ listings and $2.8M monthly trades through BTC and XMR, with a 5% market presence. Trusted by 10,000+ users and 800+ vendors, its 2FA and escrow networks ensure top privacy. Dark Web marketplaces are much like ecommerce websites on the Surface Web, but with one major difference — they mainly sell illicit and/or illegally obtained goods. These include stolen login credentials, credit card details, medical records, and cryptocurrencies. According to the latest available data, Dark Web marketplaces have at least half a million users with more than 2,400 sellers. In all, these marketplaces have recorded over 320,000 transactions, with more than 4,650 Bitcoin and 12,800 Monero — the go-to Dark Web cryptocurrency — transferred.
Common Scams And Fraudulent Activities On Darknet Markets
Therefore, most cybersecurity experts recommend using Monero while shopping on darknet markets. The site allows users to find and buy a vast variety of products and services. It’s known for its strong security features (like a trusted escrow system, PGP two-factor authentication) and anonymity. Operators of these markets implement strict entry barriers, requiring encryption keys and multi-factor authentication. This focus on security ensures the anonymity of both vendors and buyers while making law enforcement infiltration more difficult. Dark web marketplaces operate on hidden networks like Tor, invisible to traditional search engines and inaccessible through regular browsers.
Established in 2022, Torzon market is one of the biggest and most diverse marketplaces on the dark web. It is considered very secure thanks to strict user validations and transparent payment and vendor review procedures. Its focus on financial fraud and high-value transactions has attracted a dedicated user base, contributing to its growing reputation and market value. To expand their reach, some marketplaces established parallel channels on Telegram.
Cryptocurrencies serve as the backbone of these operations, allowing attackers to collect ransoms without tying payments to specific financial institutions. As a result, the overall volume of cryptocurrency tied to ransomware has grown, driving law enforcement agencies to invest in advanced blockchain analytics. Complicating matters further is the widening use of alternative channels, such as Telegram groups, private forums, and even hidden social media communities. While .onion services remain central to Dark Web commerce, these additional platforms give cybercriminals greater flexibility and resilience.
- Its design is clean and simple, built for pharma with filters by drug type, dosage, and seller rating (averaging 4.6/5 from 25,000+ reviews), making it an easy starting point for niche traders.
- Torrez has been steady since 2020, rocking 4,650+ listings with BTC, LTC, ZCash, and Monero.
- “Over the years some markets … developed a robust catalog of illicit services like money laundering, fiat offramping, and products that enable cyber-criminal activities like ransomware and malware attacks.
- Some of these people are no less than heroes who in some cases put their security on the line to share information that could be beneficial to the rest of the world.
- Cybersecurity teams must proactively monitor for leaked data and increase resilience against ransomware and phishing campaigns.
A VPN encrypts the data traffic and keeps your activities private on the dark web. It also masks your IP address, making it difficult for government agencies to monitor or track your activities. We recommend using NordVPN as it offers top-notch security features, including dark web threat protection. All the relevant experts and studies show that 2025 is going to be a big year for the dark web. It is going to see growth in all aspects whether it is the number of websites, the number of users, or the business volume.
There is no doubt that AI technology is something that will revolutionize the entire fabric of our world and how we live our lives but the same technology in criminal hands can be disastrous. So after this groundbreaking news let’s see what would happen to the dark web in 2025 and also check out some darknet sites that are going to be very popular on the dark net this year. Accessing darknet requires using Tor Browser, a special web browser that routes your internet traffic through a global network of relays managed by volunteers.
