During
the
first
few
months
of
2022,
business
was
booming
at
Hydra
Marketplace,
the
premiere
Dark
Web
destination
for
cybercrime
money
laundering
and
selling
narcotics
and
other
illegal
goods
and
services.
In
fact,
until
its
takedown
in
April
2022,
Hydra
owned
a
full
93%
of
all
illicit
underground
economic
activities.
Here’s
how
massive
Hydra’s
presence
was
on
the
Dark
Web:
In
the
days
leading
up
to
Hydra’s
takedown,
the
average
daily
revenue
for
all
underground
markets
was
about
$4.2
million.
That
number
fell
to
just
$447,000
after
Hydra
disappeared,
according
to
new
data
released
by
Chainalysis.
Year-over-year,
Dark
Web
marketplace
revenues
at
the
end
of
2021
were
about
$3.1
billion,
but
by
the
end
of
2022
they
totaled
only
about
$1.5
billion.
Hydra
Takedown
Leaves
Void
Fast
forward
10
months
after
the
demise
of
Russian-based
Hydra,
and
the
Dark
Web
marketplace
ecosystem
is
still
struggling
to
recover.
Namely,
it’s
been
tough
to
replicate
or
replace
Hydra’s
money-laundering
services
for
cybercriminals.
Out
of
the
rubble
of
the
demolished
Hydra
Marketplace,
three
early
contenders
for
biggest
player
emerged:
OMG!OMG!
Market,
Blacksprut,
and
Mega
Darknet
Market,
according
to
Chainalysis’
research.
Early
on,
OMG
was
the
frontrunner,
peaking
at
just
over
65%
of
the
underground
market
business,
but
a
June
distributed
denial-of-service
(DDoS)
attack
on
OMG
drove
users
to
competitors
Mega
Darknet
Market
and
Blacksprut
Market,
according
to
Chainalysis.
So
far,
no
other
marketplace
has
been
able
to
dominate
the
Dark
Web
market
like
Hydra
did
in
its
heyday.
Fraud
Services
Falter
Post-Hydra
Four
of
the
top
five
most
successful
darknet
markets
focused
on
illicit
substance
sales.
The
fifth,
a
platform
called
“Brian
Dumps,”
is
the
only
one
among
the
top
underground
marketplaces
dealing
in
stolen
credit
card
and
other
personally
identifying
information
(PII),
a
business
model
Chainalysis
calls
a
“fraud
shop.”
Bypass
Shop,
another
similar
fraud
shop,
was
shuttered
by
Russian
authorities
last
March,
the
report
said.
Brian
Dumps
appears
to
have
also
suffered
some
disruption
last
October,
dropping
its
revenues
for
that
month
to
zero,
according
to
Chainalysis.
But
the
reason
behind
the
issue
remains
unclear.
A
New
Mission
Mounting
struggles
in
the
darknet
ecosystem
present
an
enormous
opportunity
to
absorb
Hydra’s
user
base
and
reign
the
underground
supreme.
But
the
key
to
attracting
users
to
these
platforms
is
providing
cryptocurrency
and
fiat
currency-laundering
services,
the
research
shows.
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.
Early
after
Hydra’s
closure,
OMG’s
market
share
of
business
exploded
because
it
offered
money-laundering
services,
says
Eric
Jardine,
cybercrimes
research
lead
at
Chainalysis.
That
business
shifted
to
Mega
Darknet
once
it
was
able
to
spin
up
similar
services.
New
Cybercrime
Business
Opportunity
Dark
Web
marketplaces
are
evolving
into
financial
services
providers
for
cybercriminals,
Jardine
says.
“With
Hydra
and
the
evolution
of
money-laundering
services
as
a
feature
of
the
darknet
market
ecosystem,
a
number
of
new
financial
motivations
come
into
play,”
Jardine
says.
“Previous
markets,
such
as
Silk
Road,
largely
connected
buyers
and
sellers
of
drugs,
but
providing
money
laundering
and
fiat
currency
off-ramp
services
to
cybercriminals
ties
darknet
markets
more
to
the
ebb
and
flow
of
ransomware
and
cybercrime
than
had
previously
been
the
case.”
As
these
platforms
continue
to
provide
digital
asset
services,
cybercriminals
will
be
motivated
to
commit
more
digital
asset-based
cybercrimes,
says
Karl
Steinkamp,
with
cybersecurity
advisory
firm
Coalfire.
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