Type of site | Darknet market |
|---|---|
| Available in | Russian |
| Revenue | $5 billion dollars (lifetime) |
| URL | hydraforums.io |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 17 million users 19,000 sellers |
| Launched | 2015 |
| Current status | Online since April 2022 |
Hydra 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] 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.[4][5] The United States Department of Justice has indicted one Russian man for his role in running the servers for the website.[3]
Group of admins/managers running Hydra market were not discovered or arrested.[6]
At the time of server takedown it had 17 million registered customers.[7]
The closure of Hydra started the ongoing Russian darknet market conflict over Russian darknet drug markets.
Unique among dark net marketplaces, Hydra provided various criminal financial services.[2]
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| Search engines |
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| News |
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| File storage and peer-to-peer file sharing |
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| Email and instant messaging |
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| Social media and forums |
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| Financial |
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| Darknet markets |
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| Document archives |
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| Nonprofit organizations |
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| Operating systems |
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| Government |
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| Whistleblowing |
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| Pornography |
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| Other |
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