Alphabay was launched in 2014 and operated as an online marketplace for drugs, data, computer programs, stolen passwords or user accounts, and other physical or digital goods. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein referred to the site as “ten times the size of the Silk Road,” the first notorious dark web black market that was taken down in October 2013. AlphaBay, one of the largest marketplaces on the dark web, had a significantly high level of user engagement before its shutdown in 2017. Users flocked to this platform for a vast array of illicit goods and services, ranging from drugs to hacking tools.
The Biggest Dark Web Takedown Yet Sends Black Markets Reeling
Launched in September 2022, Torzon Market operates on the Tor network and features over 11,600 illegal products, including drugs and hacking tools. It enhances buyer transparency by importing vendor feedback with PGP proof. Torzon offers a premium account option for additional benefits and is valued at approximately $15 million, accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR).
How To Access AlphaBay Guide
- DeSnake claims there have been 15,000 user accounts created, 450 vendors registered, and over 400 listings published as of the time of writing.
- By mid-2013, Rabenn found that more and more of those reports were being triggered by financial transfers out of crypto exchanges, platforms where users could trade digital currency for traditional money like dollars, euros, or yen.
- According to our historical darknet records, DeSnake had connections in Russia although his true identity and location was not publicly known.
- The sunbaked agricultural city in the middle of California had long served as a corridor for cocaine, heroin, weed, and methamphetamine smugglers, as traffickers from the southern border made their way to buyers in the Northwest and on the East Coast.
- At one point in 2013, Miller’s partner on a surveillance assignment suggested they try to work on a new sort of case.
Quality and validity of the data it provides justify its higher cost over other marketplaces. The platform’s popularity continues to grow, attracting both new and returning customers. Valued at approximately $15 million, Abacus Market is one of the most lucrative platforms in the dark web ecosystem.
Kingdom Market
- So far, AlphaBay has managed to withstand DDoS attacks, criticism, and skepticism and is well positioned to be a safe haven for increasingly displaced marketplace vendors.
- The author seemed to be AlphaBay’s long-lost lieutenant—or, at the very least, someone who’d gotten ahold of his key.
- “Lol, how many honest comrades will DeSnake have to turn in now to leave the punishment cell?” one commenter asked in Russian.
- Established in 2022, Torzon market is one of the biggest and most diverse marketplaces on the dark web.
- But before he could be extradited, Cazes was found dead from an apparent suicide in his cell in Thailand.
Watch our cyber team share their key insights from their investigations into the biggest dark web trends in 2022. Learn how to automate financial risk reports using AI and news data with this guide for product managers, featuring tools from Webz.io and OpenAI. Established in 2022, WizardShop is one of the biggest data stores on the dark web, focusing mainly on carding and financial data. The vacuum created by AlphaBay and Hansa was filled in 2018 by Empire Market.
About Alphabay Market
He maintains, at the very least, that his client’s suicide is far from proven, though he admits he doesn’t know who would have killed Cazes—or had him killed. Over the months that followed, Bonakdar says, he asked US prosecutors and the Thai government for video footage of Cazes’ cell at the time of his death. I did, years later, request and receive several clips of video from inside Cazes’ cell. One clip shows Cazes looking up and down the jail hallway through the cell’s bars, then doing something with his towel just off-screen before disappearing behind the cell’s bathroom door.
AlphaBay Turns 1—Again: Analyzing The Impact Of AlphaBay Market
Now, back from the dead, AlphaBay hopes to reestablish itself as the eBay of the dark web. But whether it ever bests its predecessor’s records — or regains its once-storied, now-sullied reputation — remains to be seen. In August 2021, AlphaBay returned to the dark web, this time under the sole helm of its former second-in-command, the still-anonymous DeSnake.
Cypher Marketplace
AlphaBay operated as a hidden service on the “Tor” network, and utilized cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Monero and Ethereum in order to hide the locations of its underlying servers and the identities of its administrators, moderators, and users. Based on law enforcement’s investigation of AlphaBay, authorities believe the site was also used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from illegal transactions on the website. During the summer of 2017, one of the most intriguing and well-orchestrated international law enforcement efforts in history converged to take down some of the most successful darknet markets to-date. One of these, AlphaBay Market, was the most prominent and popular darknet market since the Silk Road. At its height, AlphaBay’s daily sales ranged between $600,000 and $800,000 USD across 300,000 listings for illicit goods, offered by over 40,000 vendors and viewed by some 200,000 users.
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. After the arrest, while waiting for extradition to the United States, Cazes apparently died by suicide while in custody in Thailand. Later that month, the US Attorney’s Office in California filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Cazes and his wife’s high value assets located across the globe, including several luxury vehicles, residences, and a hotel in Thailand, as well as millions in cryptocurrency.
Common Scams On Dark Web Marketplaces
The Wall Street Journal broke the news that AlphaBay had been taken down by a joint law enforcement operation involving the US, Thai, and Canadian governments and that the site’s administrator, Alexandre Cazes, had been found dead in a Thai jail cell. During the investigation, federal law enforcement seized cryptocurrency valued at $75 million at the time of the seizures, as well as cash and precious metals. “For now, there are plenty of smaller and more specialized markets for vendors and buyers to continue trading,” Wilson said.
He knew the possibility of achieving a Ross Ulbricht–style arrest and seizing Cazes’ laptop in a live, logged-in state—not to mention his phone—was a long shot at best. Even after all their international meetings and planning calls over the past months, and in spite of his usual hard-driving enthusiasm, Rabenn found himself quietly expecting their plan to fail. Pisal himself and a group of uniformed officers had now parked several blocks from Cazes’ house. At one end, a gardener was trimming the foliage, and an electrician was busy with a nearby wiring box.
BTC and Monero work here, with multi-signature wallets keeping things tight. It’s not as flashy as it once was (valued at a billion back in the day), but it’s functional, and they vet vendors hard. I’ve heard they’re eyeing a big vendor push in 2025 to get back on top—could mean more listings soon. Brandefense’s Dark Web Monitoring is a comprehensive solution designed to continuously track and analyze activity across hidden layers of the internet, including the dark web, deep web, and hacker forums. This solution focuses on identifying stolen data, brand misuse, and potential threats before they can cause significant harm. With Brandefense, businesses gain early visibility into risks that may otherwise remain undetected until it’s too late.
The article concludes with key takeaways from the AlphaBay shutdown and reflections on the lessons learned, pointing to the ongoing challenges and considerations for law enforcement and users navigating the dark web. Overall, it sheds light on how AlphaBay shaped the landscape of online transactions in the deep web and offers insights into future implications for similar platforms. For over two years, users anonymously exchanged bitcoin for pills, fake IDs, firearms, stolen credit cards, and other illicit goods. The Silk Road captivated the media and confounded law enforcement, but a series of minuscule slip-ups by its founder, Ross Ulbricht, eventually led the police to arrest him and shutter the site.
Almost immediately, new dark web marketplaces began popping up to replace the Silk Road, but most maintained a low profile, not wanting to meet the same fate as their predecessor. And for nearly three years, one marketplace, in particular, reigned supreme. AlphaBay boasted hundreds of thousands of users, raked in millions of dollars a year in revenue, and became known as the successor to the notorious, now-shuttered Silk Road. 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. Due to its extensive inventory and reputation for reliability, Brian’s Club has maintained a significant presence on the dark web.
It was considered the biggest online black market for drugs, being between five and ten times the size of the Silk Road dark web marketplace at its peak. The dark web remains a mysterious yet highly dangerous part of the internet, where illicit activities and black markets thrive. While it offers anonymity for legitimate purposes, it is also a haven for cybercriminals. As explored in this article, the top dark web black markets demonstrate the growing sophistication and scale of these underground networks.
