Hydra market is no more. After several long months of investigation, 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 a turnover of 1.23 billion euros in 2020 thanks to its 17 million customers around the world.
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 has seized Hydra Market and that its services are no longer accessible. It is a very good catch for the parquet floor of Frankfurt. 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 no less than 17 million customers around the world to obtain products on the black market and to carry out money laundering activities, in particular thanks to: 19,000 merchant accounts† Founded in 2015, the platform has 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 that 1.23 billion euros, the police will probably never see the color. The latter can all console themselves by boasting that they are a total of 23 million euros in Bitcoins† Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis, goes on to explain that Hydra Market has enjoyed tremendous success in Russia and Ukraine, as the two countries are the two largest users of cryptocurrency in the world.
But despite a site closed and millions of euros recovered, there is still a long way to go before the platform’s administrators are found. Indeed, their identities remain unknown for now, thanks in large part to the ” bitcoin bank mixer“, a system developed by Hydra Market that makes it possible to cover the traces of financial transactions.
This case echoes clearly the recent arrest of 150 arms dealers by authorities around the worldafter the closure in early 2021 ofdark marketthis time again by the German police, which at the time held the title of the largest black market on the Dark Web.
