Understanding the Darknet Market
The darknet market refers to a part of the internet that is not indexed by traditional search engines. Accessing this market typically requires specific software, configurations, or authorization. One of the key questions that arises is how big is the darknet market.
The reasons for their exclusion were that they were not included in the data archive or lacked sufficient product categorization needed for the current analyses. The data also does not cover possible user-to-user transactions, which bypass the markets altogether (Nadini et al., 2021). Thus, the findings reported here do not reflect the entire dark market economy, just the activity recorded for those markets sampled. Furthermore, the present analyses utilized historical data without newer scrapes (see ElBahrawy et al., 2020), limiting some of the possible contemporary policy and prevention implications. One approach to help address this would involve the identification of products that are found to be offered on darknet markets before their official release on the surface web.
Scale of the Darknet Market
What kinds of services are darknet marketplace vendors and their customers using to facilitate these activities? Below, we break down the services sending cryptocurrency to darknet markets by volume. In addition to drugs, which include prescription pharmaceuticals as well as illegal drugs, darknet markets offer a wide range of products and services.
We then used this information to determine the number of vendors selling stolen data products, the number of stolen data products advertised, the number of products sold and the amount of revenue generated. All three top markets, Mega Darknet, Blacksprut, and OMG, show signs they have started offering cryptocurrency money-laundering services to lure in Hydra users, according to Chainalysis. There is also some evidence of collaboration between the platforms, the report pointed out. Cryptocurrency is commonly used on darknet markets due to its perceived anonymity and its ease and efficiency for transferring funds across international borders. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which escalated to a war of conquest in February 2022, has also had an impact on darknet markets.
A lot of harmless items exist within this layer, such as unpublished blog posts, archived news stories and articles with paywalls. This part of the web isn’t accessible by traditional search engines, and so isn’t picked up by web crawlers. To access pages and information within the deep web, users require the correct authorisation and credentials. Covering topics in risk management, compliance, fraud, and information security.
If you wanted to become a seller on the website, entry is open, and the marketplace will take a 2% commission on every sale with a vendor bond varying between the $0 and $250 mark. Another one of the biggest Darknet marketplaces out there, Berlusconi Market prides itself on over 12,224 listings, with only 6,400 of them being drug-related, meaning there are thousands of listings here for you to explore. This particular market is modeled on the late Alphabay Market that was seized and shut down in the middle of 2017.
There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Almost a year after Hydra’s takedown, five markets—Mega, Blacksprut, Solaris, Kraken and OMG! Market—have emerged as the biggest players based on the volume of offers and the number of sellers.
Estimating the size of the darknet market can be challenging due to its anonymous and decentralized nature. However, several reports and studies provide insights into its scale:
- Marketplaces: The darknet hosts a variety of marketplaces, each offering different products and services.
- Cryptocurrency Usage: Transactions are predominantly carried out using cryptocurrencies, further complicating the estimation process.
- Growth Trends: Various reports indicate that the darknet market has seen exponential growth over recent years.
Sanctioning Illicit Darknet Marketplace
Factors Influencing Market Size
The size and scope of the darknet market are influenced by several factors:
- Supply and Demand: The availability of illegal goods and services fuels the market.
- Disruption Attempts: Law enforcement crackdowns can temporarily affect market stability and growth.
- Technological Advancements: Improvements in anonymizing technologies can lead to more users entering the market.
- The products sold on darknet markets are a major concern for law enforcement agencies and governments worldwide.
- Therefore, we used a heuristic proposed and used by others (Soska & Christin, 2015; Wegberg et al., 2018) to replace high holding prices (≥ 10,000 USD) with the original price (if available) or to remove it.
- However, seized goods also originated from the United Arab Emirates (3.8%), Turkey (3.1%), Singapore (2.8%), Thailand (1.4%), India (1%), and other countries (each with less than 1%) (OECD/EUIPO, 2019).
- As it’s inaccessible via the surface web, users require a software known as The Onion Router (or TOR) to get to the darknet.
- Today, buyers and sellers on Hydra and other online black markets frequently transact in the cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) due to its heightened anonymity, according to analysts.
Market Size Estimates
While precise figures are difficult to ascertain, here are some notable estimates:
- Revenue: The total revenue generated by darknet markets has been estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually.
- User Base: Millions of users are reported to access various darknet services.
- Number of Marketplaces: Hundreds of darknet marketplaces exist at any given time, with new ones emerging as older ones are shut down.
FAQs about Darknet Market Size
1. Why is it hard to measure the size of the darknet market?
The darknet market operates on anonymity and secrecy, which makes it challenging for researchers to collect accurate data.
2. What types of products are commonly found in the darknet market?
Common products include:
- Illegal drugs
- Stolen data
- Weapons
- Counterfeit goods
3. How can one access the darknet market?
Access typically requires:
- Specialized software like Tor or I2P
- Knowledge of specific URLs or .onion sites
- A secure and anonymous online identity
Conclusion
In conclusion, while estimating how big is the darknet market presents numerous challenges, it is evident that the market demonstrates significant financial activity and user engagement. The continual evolution of technology and user behavior will likely influence the future scale and nature of the darknet market.
