Hydra Market is no more. After several long months of investigation, the German police closed the doors of the largest black market in the world, while seizing the equivalent of 23 million euros in Bitcoins. The site had generated a turnover of 1.23 billion euros in 2020 thanks to its 17 million customers around the globe.
This morning, several unscrupulous sellers, as well as their customers, woke up to the unpleasant surprise of seeing a banner on their favorite site. The latter indicates that the German police seized Hydra Market and that its services are no longer accessible. It’s a very good catch for the Frankfurt parquet floor. Specialized in the marketing of drugs, stolen data and false documentsHydra Market is the largest illegal sales site in the world on the Dark Web.
The site, written in Russian, has enabled no less than 17 million customers around the world to obtain black market products as well as to carry out money laundering activities, thanks in particular to 19,000 seller accounts. Created in 2015, the platform generated a monster turnover of €1.23 billion in 2020. In fact, it is “the illegal market with the highest turnover in the world”say the authorities.
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Hydra Market closes, 23 million euros in Bitcoin seized
Of these 1.23 billion euros, the police will probably never see the color. The latter can all the same console themselves by boasting of having seized a total of 23 million euros in bitcoins. Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis, further explains that Hydra Market has seen tremendous success in Russia and Ukraine since the two countries are the two largest cryptocurrency users in the world.
But, despite a closed site and millions of euros recovered, there is still a long way to go before finding the administrators of the platform. Indeed, their identity remains unknown for the time being, largely thanks to the ” bitcoin bank mixer“, a system developed by Hydra Market which makes it possible to cover the tracks of financial transactions.
This case obviously echoes the recent arrest of 150 arms dealers by authorities around the world, following the closure in early 2021 ofDark Marketthis time again by the German police, and which at the time held the title of the largest black market on the Dark Web.
