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Comparison of darknet markets
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A darknet market (also known as a DNM) is a website operating in a darknet (e.g., Freenet, I2P, TOR) through which goods and services (typically drugs) are traded. The legal status of the traded goods depends varies from country to country. The purpose of this comparison is to provide an overview of the constantly changing phenomenon of darknet markets. The comparison in durability, success, and security should enable people to evaluate markets and make independent decisions before using them.
According to their major features and design, at least five archetypes of marketplaces can be distinguished.
- Forum Markets. These are basically forums where vendors present their products, customers post feedback and have discussions. These markets neither have an online shopping interface nor a reputation or escrow system. Trusted members of the community may act as escrow agents.
- Centralized Markets. The original "Silkroad" was the first of this kind. Buyers and vendors have their bitcoins in an online wallet which is controlled by the markets admin and therefore rely totally on the good will of the markets admins. Several big scams have happened in the past in which millions of dollars (in bitcoin) were stolen.
- Multi-Signature Markets. In this type of market, funds will be deposited in a multi-signature wallet. At least three parties (usually: buyer, vendor, market admin) have the control over these wallets. Two of them have to agree to release the funds. The most elaborate marketplace of this kind was "The Marketplace". Second generation marketplaces have yet to gain serious market share.
- Decentralized Markets. There are some projects which are currently developing software to host drug marketplaces in a distributed manner. As of 2017, they have yet to be adopted by the darknet market community.
- Beside that some vendors maintain their own single vendor web shop. These won’t be listed here because they are too numerous and there is no way of protecting against scams.Some vendor shops are listed here: https://www.deepdotweb.com/marketplace-directory/categories/vendor-shops.
All markets are hosted either as Tor Hidden Services (Onion Sites), i2p sites (eepsites) or another kind of p2p or darknet. Therefore they can not be accessed with a normal web browser. The technical aspects of using a darknet market are discussed in the darknet marketplace usage tutorial.
Forum markets
These websites are based on ordinary forum software. There is no cart, wallet or escrow provided. Transactions usually happen directly between vendor and customer.
| Name, Address | Date of Opening | Registration | Incidents | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Market Place (http://fmp75d2wcfom3opr.onion) |
? | ? | ? | french |
| The Majestic Garden (http://themgpeuawtfvbzi.onion/) Forum (http://bm26rwk32m7u7rec.onion/) |
? | Open | No | TMG is focused on psychedelics and empathogens. |
| RAMP (Russian Anonymous MarketPlace) (http://ramp2bombkadwvgz.onion) |
? | Open | ? | russian |
Centralized markets
All these markets have a certain concept in common. There is a staff team which is maintaining a website as an onion or eepsite in TOR or I2P. They offer all the features to vendors and buyers. They take some % of every transaction as commission for their own profit and often take a bond of vendors to prevent scammers off signin up. Their definite trait is that the admin has the absolute power over the users funds.
| Name, Adress, Forum, Subreddit | Date of Opening | # of listings | Registration | 2-Factor-Authentification | Java Script | PGP | Incidents | Cryptocoins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraxas (http://abraxasdegupusel.onion/) Forum (http://abraxasgacelesox.onion/) Subreddit (/r/AbraxasMarket) |
2014-12-13 | ~5100 |
Invite Only | No | No | No | No | BTC, DASH |
| Dream Market (http://lchudifyeqm4ldjj.onion) Forum (http://tmskhzavkycdupbr.onion/) Subreddit (?) |
2013-11-15 | ~6500 | Open | Yes | No | No (optional auto-encryption but site discourages users to use it for all communication) | No | BTC |
| Middle Earth (http://mango7u3rivtwxy7.onion/) Forum (http://mango7u3rivtwxy7.onion/talks/) Subreddit - |
2014-06-22 | ~4300 | Open | Yes | optional | No | No | BTC |
| Nucleus Market http://nucleuspf3izq7o6.onion/ Forum http://z34uj4opd3tejafn.onion/ Subreddit /r/NucleusMarket |
2014-10-24 | ~15000 | Open | Yes | No | No | No | BTC, DASH, LTC |
Explanations:
| Criterion | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 2-Factor-Authentification | With 2-factor authentification, one needs to decrypt with a private PGP key. This feature avoids successful phishing of one's name and password. |
| Java Script | Some people consider Javascript a security risk. Some sites force you to turn it off before entering their site. |
| PGP | Is the use of PGP encryption obligatory in private messages? It typically is not, but writing unencrypted messages may expose personal details to the market admins and law enforcement agencies. |
| Incidents | Bitcoins disappeared? Team members busted? Page hacked? Did anything happen what undermines the credibility and professionalism of the people who run the marketplace? |
Multi-signature markets
| Name, Adress, Forum, Subreddit | Date of Opening | # of listings | Registration | 2-Factor-Authentification | Java Script | PGP | Security Incidents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabay [Alphabay has been shut down] Subreddit (/r/Alphabay) |
2014-12-22 | ~40000 | Closed | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| East India Company[1] (http://http://g4c35ipwiutqccly.onion/) Forum (built in) Subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/EastIndiaCo /r/EastIndiaCo]) |
2015-04-28 | ~1900 (grouped listings) | Open | Yes | No | No | yes[2] |
| Outlaw Market (http://outfor6jwcztwbpd.onion/) Forum http://outforumbpapnpqr.onion Subreddit - |
2014-02-04 | ~960 | Open | Yes | No | auto-ecryption | yes[3] |
| Valhalla (http://valhallaxmn3fydu.onion) Forum http://outforumbpapnpqr.onion Subreddit - |
2013-10 | ~2300 | Open | Yes | yes | No | No |
Decentralized markets
Decentralized markets are running on a distributed filesharing-like software. A middlemen who is taking it’s cut is not needed anymore. The following table lists software projects which are in the development right now. Unless a projects reached the "stable" development status all features are to be considered as "announced" or "planned".
| Name, Website, Sourcecode | development status | hosting | anonymizing routing | cryptocurrencies | encrypted messaging | build-in wallet | anonymous transaction | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axis Mundi (https://six-pack.github.io/Axis-Mundi) |
Active (0.0.9) | P2P/trustless brokers | Tor and i2p | Bitcoin | Yes (PGP) | Not yet | Yes | Written specifically to address the DNM environment. FE with feedback and full MS escrow options for purchases. |
| Bitmarkets (https://voluntary.net/bitmarkets/) (https://github.com/voluntarynet/Bitmarkets) |
beta | P2P | TOR | Bitcoin | yes (Bitmessage) | yes | yes | Uses two party escrow so no trusted third parties or escrow agents are needed. |
| Nxt (http://104.236.98.130:4568/) (https://bitbucket.org/JeanLucPicard/nxt/src) |
stable? (1.5.12) | Blockchain, Proof of Stake, (Nxt) | TOR (optional) | Nxt (+ more) | yes | yes | ? | The marketplace is integrated in the Nxt wallet. |
| Nxt Freemarket (http://104.236.98.130:4568/) (https://bitbucket.org/blackyblack/freemarket/ CLOSED SOURCE) |
stable? (1.4) | Blockchain, Proof of Stake, (Nxt) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Nxt Freemarket is an application which builds on Nxt and provides another marketplace interface using the nxt blockchain. |
| Openmarket (http://104.236.98.130:4568/) (https://github.com/openmarket/openmarket) |
alpha (dead?) | P2P | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Open Bazaar (https://openbazaar.org/) (https://github.com/OpenBazaar/OpenBazaar) |
Stable (1.1.7) | P2P (UDP) | no | Bitcoin | yes (GnuPG) | ? | ? | ? |
| Shadow Market (http://aboutshadow.com/) (https://github.com/SDCDev/shadowcoin) |
pre-alpha | Blockchain, Proof of Stake, (Shadowcash) | through I2P and TOR[4] | Shadowcash | yes | yes | yes[5] | ? |
| Syscoin (https://syscoin.org/) (https://github.com/syscoin/syscoin) |
beta | Blockchain, Proof of Work, (Syscoin) | ? | Syscoin | yes | yes | ? | ? |
Further reading
General
- A dictionary of often used terms about the darknet.
- Subreddit for all darknet markets
- "Grams" - Darknet market search engine, bitcoin mixer, vendor directory
- The Hub - General darknet market forum
- "The Kingdom Forums" - General darknet market forum
Lists of darknet markets
- List and comparison of darknet markets by Deep Dot Web
- Comparison of current and dead darknet markets maintained by gwern.net
- Comparison of darknet markets by dnstats.net
- "Superlist" of darknet markets maintained by the moderators of /r/DarkNetMarkets
- Wall of Shame List of markets to avoid according to the moderatos of /r/DarkNetMarkets
Vendor directories and reviews
- "All Markets Vendor Directory" - A directory for Darknet vendors
- "The Darknet Feedback Database" - Search by PGP key and known username. Includes the feedback database of the now offline BlackMarketReloaded.
- "Grams" - Darknet market search engine, bitcoin mixer, vendor directory
References
- ↑ EU only market
- ↑ https://www.deepdotweb.com/2015/08/09/east-india-market-hacked-30-btc-gone//
- ↑ http://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/08/01/outlaw-market-down-possibily-compromised/
- ↑ "Q&A". Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ "Shadowsend". Retrieved 12 June 2015.