Hydra Market
Type of site | Darknet market |
|---|---|
| Available in | Russian |
| Revenue | $5 billion dollars (lifetime) |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 17 million users 19,000 sellers |
| Launched | 2015 |
| Current status | Offline since April 2022 |
Hydra (Russian: Гидра) was a Russian language dark web marketplace, founded in 2015,[1] that facilitated trafficking of illegal drugs, financial services including cryptocurrency tumbling for money laundering, exchange services between cryptocurrency and Russian rubles,[2] and the sale of falsified documents and hacking services.[3] Hydra was shut down by American and German law enforcement action in April 2022,[3] and its operator was sentenced to life in prison by a Russian court in December 2024.[4]
Services
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2024) |
Unique among dark net marketplaces, Hydra provided various criminal financial services.[2]
Closure
[edit]On April 5, 2022, American and German federal government law enforcement agencies announced the seizure of the website's Germany-based servers and cryptocurrency assets. Before its closure, it had been the longest-running dark web marketplace.[5][6] The United States Department of Justice has indicted one Russian man for his role in running the servers for the website.[3] In December 2024, a Russian court sentenced Hydra operator Stanislav Moiseyev to life in prison. Fifteen accomplices also received sentences of eight to 23 years.[4]
At the time of server takedown it had 17 million registered customers.[7]
The closure of Hydra started the ongoing Russian darknet market conflict among Russian darknet marketplace operators.
References
[edit]- ^ Kan, Michael. "German Police Take Down Hydra Market, a Major Dark Web Marketplace". PCMag. Archived from the original on 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ a b Greenberg, Andy. "Shutdown of Russia's Hydra Market Disrupts a Crypto-Crime ATM". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ a b c Mangan, Dan (2022-04-05). "World's biggest darknet marketplace, Russia-linked Hydra Market, seized and shut down, DOJ says". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ a b Goodin, Dan (December 4, 2024). "Russian court sentences kingpin of Hydra drug marketplace to life in prison". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
- ^ "Law enforcement seized Hydra servers, $25m in digicash". www.theregister.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ "Germany shuts down world's largest illegal marketplace on darknet with US help". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ "Germany shuts down darknet platform specializing in drugs". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- Goonetilleke et al 2023, "Hydra: Lessons from the World’s Largest Darknet Market"
External links
[edit]- Hydra Forums - Hydra Market New Website
- BKA announcement of shutdown
- U.S. Treasury sanction press release
| Search engines | |
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| News | |
| File storage and peer-to-peer file sharing | |
| Email and instant messaging | |
| Social media and forums | |
| Financial | |
| Darknet markets | |
| Document archives | |
| Nonprofit organizations | |
| Operating systems | |
| Government | |
| Whistleblowing | |
| Pornography | |
| Other | |
Sites in italics are now offline or discontinued (not counting ambiguously forked sites).
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