Multisig escrow provides additional security by requiring multiple confirmations before funds release on Abacus market. This rise to prominence made it a significant player in the illicit online economy, attracting a large user base that entrusted it with substantial cryptocurrency deposits. By last year, it commanded a dominant 70% of the Western darknet market landscape. The unexpected nature of Abacus’s disappearance, coupled with prior reports of withdrawal difficulties, strongly points towards this fraudulent scheme, leaving countless users and vendors with potentially lost funds. The active bearish wind within the crypto market has triggered most of the assets down, losing momentum.
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The marketplace’s administrator, known as “Vito,” attributed these withdrawal issues to an influx of new users following Archetyp Market’s seizure by law enforcement and ongoing DDoS attacks. Classic darknet markets sell diverse illegal goods; data stores focus on leaked or stolen data like credentials, databases, and ID records. While some of these markets were shuttered by law enforcement agencies – some took the easy way out with exit scams. As platforms vanish or are taken down, vendors and buyers are shifting towards encrypted communication channels and smaller, low-effort marketplaces to continue operations. It is also recognized for hosting underground black markets(darknet markets), whistleblowing platforms, and discussion boards that champion freedom of speech. Past administrators of darknet markets who have conducted exit scams have not been prosecuted, and this approach is appealing to operators.
In the interim, many in the DNM community will assume the marketplace performed an exit scam and continue their activity on other platforms. TRM Labs assesses that the marketplace’s operators have likely conducted an exit scam, shutting down operations and disappearing with users’ funds. Join over 45,000 daily users on the most secure darknet marketplace
Arcadia Finance has suffered an exploit resulting in losses of approximately $3.5 million, said blockchain security firm CertiK. The platform expects to restore deposit and trading services within hours. Blockchain security firm SlowMist attributed the breach to a supply chain attack. The exchange said that the attack resulted in the theft of 120 BTC, 350 ETH, 1,800 SOL and approximately 8.54 million USDT, along with funds in eight other cryptocurrencies. About $10.5 million in FRAX was sent back to GMX, followed by around $30 million in multiple batches, said security firm PeckShield. The hacker who stole more than $40 million from decentralized exchange GMX earlier this week started returning the stolen funds, after appearing to accept GMX’s $5 million white-hat bug bounty.
- Secret Service, and cybersecurity nonprofits.
- Faced with the decision between profit seeking and self preservation, Abacus’s admins likely chose the latter in light of Archetyp’s seizure and the surge in new users that elevated Abacus’s profile.
- Abacus is a next-generation darknet marketplace designed for privacy, security, and ease of use.
- “Arresting vendors often has a greater disruptive impact than taking down DNMs dark net marketplaces.
- Abacus Market, the largest Bitcoin BTC-driven darknet marketplace in the Western world, has abruptly gone dark, bringing about suspicions of a major exit scam.
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The marketplace let customers pay in Bitcoin or Monero, unlike rivals DrugHub, ASAP Market and Incognito Market. The marketplace’s catalog covered stimulants, opioids, psychedelics, prescription pills, benzodiazepines, unlicensed medicines and cannabis products. Though it was open for users worldwide, it worked hard to attract Australian buyers, even hiring a local moderator and sprinkling Australian slang through its site text. This shows that users were growing increasingly suspicious of the site.
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In addition to counterfeit merchandise, MGM Grand Market offers access to stolen credit card information, compromised bank accounts, and other financial fraud-related services. Fresh Tools Market has become a go-to platform for cybercriminals seeking access to malicious software such as keyloggers, Remote Access Trojans (RATs), and ransomware-as-a-service. FreshTools, founded in 2019, specializes in selling stolen account credentials and data, particularly webmail, RDPs (Remote Desktop Protocols), and cPanels. The platform is favored by cybercriminals seeking access to accounts that can be exploited for fraud or sold to others. Their specialty is selling stolen data, including login credentials, credit card information, and compromised accounts.
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Digital Risk Protection Threat Intelligence Dark Web Monitoring Cybersecurity Platforms Security Tools Why Threat Intelligence Platforms Matter Now Traditional firewalls can’t protect against stolen passwords. By leveraging automated dark web monitoring, organizations can mitigate risks, and take preventive measures before the leaked data is exploited. Manual monitoring of the dark web is inefficient and risky due to the sheer volume of data involved. This early detection allows organizations to identify and respond to threats quickly, reducing the chances of unauthorized access, financial loss, or damage to brand reputation.
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This figure dropped quickly in early July, to just $13,000 a day across 100 deposits, as user trust was quickly affected by withdrawal delays. The best month for the darkweb market was this June, when the value of brokered sales peaked at $6.3 million. Cointelegraph is committed to providing independent, high-quality journalism across the crypto, blockchain, AI, and fintech industries. TRM Labs speculates the Abacus operators could have also “lost motivation to continue” or chose to exit the ecosystem to “preserve their freedom and financial gains.” Its website and infrastructure, including its clearnet mirror, are inaccessible, TRM Labs said in a report on Monday.
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According to analysts at TRM Labs, after users complained about payment delays, the site’s administrators ceased communicating with them. For operators, the temptation to end operations by seizing escrowed funds often competes with the longer-term vision of maintaining marketplace stability and trust. Covert law enforcement operations have in the past quietly seized control of darknet infrastructure without initially disclosing involvement, although such actions typically become public within weeks. Signs of instability began to surface in late June 2025 as users reported difficulties withdrawing funds from their accounts. Over the following years, it attracted a massive following, becoming the largest darknet platform of its kind by 2024. Select market data provided by ICE Data Services.
- Bohemia accepts Monero and Bitcoin as payment methods and places a strong emphasis on protecting user anonymity through PGP encryption.
- Its products range from drugs, counterfeit goods, and fraud tools in exchange BTC and the privacy-focused crypto Monero.
- Abacus Market has firmly established itself as the premier darknet marketplace since its founding in late 2021.
- The marketplace’s administrator, known as ‘Vito’, responded on darkweb discussion forum Dread, claiming an influx of Archetyp users and a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack were the reasons for the issues.
- Unlike many other dark web markets, Cypher does not require buyers to deposit cryptocurrency upfront, which reduces the risk of exit scams.
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TRM Labs delivers blockchain intelligence to detect crypto-facilitated crime, ensuring compliance and safety worldwide Cases like Nemesis Market and Monopoly Market indicate that law enforcement agencies now prefer to take down DNMs without announcing it publicly — and potentially alerting vendors under investigation. As a result, law enforcement has adopted an intelligence-led enforcement strategy incorporating DNM takedowns into longer-term investigations rather than treating them as end goals. Furthermore, after four years of operating and generating substantial profits, the admins likely lost motivation to continue and chose to exit the ecosystem to preserve their freedom and financial gains.
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The market even experienced its best month in June, with brokered sales peaking at $6.3 million, indicating robust activity just before its demise. TRM Labs estimates that the market facilitated nearly $100 million in Bitcoin transactions alone. With the market speculating a Fed rate cut in December, Bitcoin has rallied by more than 8% since it went down below $81,000 on Friday.
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Online drugs marketplace Abacus Market has either been seized by US authorities or is performing an exit scam on its users following questionable bitcoin (BTC) transfers, according to Darkweb Informer. Safe access to the abacus darknet marketplace requires understanding essential security fundamentals. The suspected abacus market exit scam involves more than $54 million in stolen Bitcoin, making it one of the most significant frauds on the darknet since Empire Market’s collapse in 2020. Abacus Market, once the largest Bitcoin-enabled darknet marketplace serving Western users, has gone dark in what analysts believe is a major exit scam.
