Comparison of darknet markets
Template:Proofread A darknet market is a website operating in a darknet (i.e. Freenet, I2P, TOR) and in which goods and services (usually drugs) are traded. The legal status of the traded goods depends varies from country to country. The purpose of this comparison is to keep an overview about the constantly changing phenomenon of darknet markets. The comparison in durability, success and security shall enable people to evaluate markets and make independent decisions before using them.
According to their major features and design three generations of marketplaces can be distinguished.
- Centralized Markets. The original "Silkroad" was the first of this kind. Buyers and vendors have their bitcoins on 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 happened in the past in which millions of $ were stolen.
- Multi-Signature Markets. In this markets funds will be deposited in a multi-signature wallet. At three 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 elaborated marketplace of this kind was "The Marketplace". Second generation marketplace could not get some serious market share yet.
- Decentralized Markets. There are some projects which are currently developing software to host drug marketplaces in a distributed manner. None of these projects reached a final state.
All markets are hosted either as Tor Hidden Services (Onion Sites), i2p sites (eepsites) or another kind of p2p or darknet. Therefor they can not be accessed with a normal webrowser. The technical aspects of using a darknet market are discussed in the article Darknet marketplace usage tutorial.
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 | Wallet Clearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraxas (http://abraxasdegupusel.onion/) Forum (http://abraxasgacelesox.onion/) Subreddit (/r/AbraxasMarket) |
2014-12-13 | ~350 |
Invite Only | No | No | No | No | No |
| Agora (http://agorahooawayyfoe.onion/) Forum (http://lacbzxobeprssrfx.onion) Subreddit (/r/AgMarketplace) |
2013-12-05 | +14000 |
Invite Only | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Majestic Garden (http://themgpeuawtfvbzi.onion/) Forum (http://bm26rwk32m7u7rec.onion/) Subreddit - |
? | TMG is a forum to review and contact vendors who are considered to be very reliable. | Open | No | No | No | No | - |
| Middle Earth (http://mango7u3rivtwxy7.onion/) Forum (http://mango7u3rivtwxy7.onion/talks/) Subreddit - |
2014-06-22 | ~1000 | Open | Yes | optional | No | No | No |
| Nucleus Market http://nucleuspf3izq7o6.onion/ Forum http://z34uj4opd3tejafn.onion/ Subreddit /r/NucleusMarket |
2014-10-24 | ~2500 | Open | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
| Outlaw Market (http://outfor6jwcztwbpd.onion/) Forum http://outforumbpapnpqr.onion Subreddit - |
2014-02-04 | ~500 | Open | Yes | No | ? | yes [1] | ? |
| Silkroad Reloaded http://silkroadreloaded.i2p/ Forum http://silkroadreloaded.i2p/pyforum2/default/index Subreddit /r/SilkRoadReLoaded |
2014-01-06 | ~19 | Open | Yes (mandatory) |
yes | No | No | No |
Explanations:
| Criterion | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Marketplace | The name of the marketplace. |
| 2-Factor-Authentification | With 2-factor authentification you need to decrypt a with your private PGP key. This feature avoids successful phishing of your name and password. |
| Java Script | Some people consider Javascript a securtiy risk. Some sites force you to turn it off before entering their site. |
| PGP | Is the use of PGP encryption obligatory in private messages? 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 happened what undermines the credibility and professionalism of the people who run the marketplace? |
| Wallet Clearing (after finished Escrow) | Will your on site wallet be cleared if all transactions are finalized? With Multi-Signature Wallets a unique address is created for every transaction. Only the exact amount if money is required. |
Markets which need to be integrated.
- Dream Market: http://ltxocqh4nvwkofil.onion
- East India Company (g4c35ipwiutqccly.onion)
- French Market Place: [fmp75d2wcfom3opr.onion) French
- RAMP: http://ramp2bombkadwvgz.onion (Russian, Board)
Multi-Signature-Markets
| Name, Adress, Forum, Subreddit | Date of Opening | # of listings | Registration | 2-Factor-Authentification | Java Script | PGP | Security Incidents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabay pwoah7foa6au2pul.onion Forum pwoah7foa6au2pul.onion/forum/ Subreddit /r/Alphabay |
|||||||
- Haven
- MrNiceGuy
- Oxygen
- Silkkitien: [silkkitiehdg5mug.onion] (Finnish, English)
- TheRealDeal
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 feature had only be read as "announced" or "planed".
| Name, Website, Sourcecode | development status | hosting | anonymizing routing | cryptocurrencies | encrypted messaging | build-in wallet | anonymous transaction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Openmarket (?) (https://github.com/openmarket/openmarket) |
beta | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Open Bazaar (https://openbazaar.org/) (https://github.com/OpenBazaar/OpenBazaar) |
beta | P2P | ? | Bitcoin | yes (GnuPG) | ? | ? | ? |
| Shadow Market (http://aboutshadow.com/) (https://github.com/SDCDev/shadowcoin) |
pre-alpha | P2P combined with PoS rewards in Shadowcash | Through I2P and TOR[2] | Shadowcash | yes | yes | yes[3] |
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 chart of hidden Marketplaces TOR/I2P @ Deep Dot Web
- Comparison of current and dead darknet markets made by gwern.net
- Comparison of darknet markets by dnstats.net
- Darknet market "Superlist" on /r/DarkNetMarkets
- Wall of Shame List of markets to avoid on reddit.com/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
- ↑ http://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/08/01/outlaw-market-down-possibily-compromised/
- ↑ "Q&A". Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ "Shadowsend". Retrieved 12 June 2015.