German security forces have announced the closure of the world’s largest online drug market Hydra. The servers of the illicit market place were shut down and €23 million worth of bitcoin was seized.
The operation to shutdown Hydra is said to have begun in 2021, with the help of US authorities. The German authorities posted this image for users who go to the Hydra marketplace now.
The Russian language marketplace was the world largest on the darknet and sold mainly drugs, but also fake identity documents and stolen credit card info. The Hydra marketplace as a whole was estimated to be worth over €1.23 billion in 2020 alone. The dark web market is said to have had around 17 million customers. While Hydra has Russian origin, it was used in an array of other countries including; Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and more.
Hydra was set up in 2015 and was accessible through the popular Tor browser. It offered an eBay style catalog of drugs, with reviews and forums allowing customers to find the best substances for themselves. Customers could only purchase products through bitcoin, allowing for anonymity and security for both the customers and suppliers.
The loss of Hydra will create a void for other darknet marketplaces to fill. In Greek Mythology when a Hydra’s head was chopped off, two more would sprout. We’re likely to see a similar outcome here.
