Following the collapse of Hydra Market last yr, darknet drug markets proceed to bounce again and adapt. Megan Townsend explores the present state of play in 2023...

The times of the Silk Road and Dread Pirate Roberts could also be behind us, however darknet drug markets seem like as prevalent as ever. With the collapse of the Russian Hydra market in 2022, we explore the state of darknet drug markets in 2023.

What is the darknet and how does it work?

The Internet Iceberg

For those less familiar with the workings of the darknet and its varied marketplaces, permit me to elucidate…

If you happen to picture the internet in terms of an iceberg, then the floor net, the place we're proper now, would form the tip of that iceberg. Accounting for just 4% of your complete internet, the surface internet is the portion with which individuals are most acquainted. The surface web encompasses the elements of the online that are accessible via serps, equivalent to google. However, many don’t realise that the net extends far past this.

One step beneath the surface internet is the deep internet. This a part of the web isn’t accessible by traditional search engines like google, and so isn’t picked up by internet crawlers. To access pages and information within the deep net, customers require the correct authorisation and credentials.

However, simply because a webpage exists within the deep net doesn’t imply it’s harmful. A lot of harmless items exist within this layer, such as unpublished weblog posts, archived information tales and articles with paywalls.

Below the deep web is the darknet (or dark web), which is even tougher to entry because of its unsearchable, encrypted and personal nature which affords users full anonymity.

The darknet does have some reliable uses together with personal communication and the protecting of confidential assets. Despite this, the darknet is probably higher recognized for its hosting of drug marketplaces, such as the Silk Road, black markets and cyber assault providers to name a couple of. Its very design makes the darknet a hotspot for criminal activity, and so this has develop into synonymous with this section of the web.

The Onion Router (TOR)

As it’s inaccessible through the floor web, customers require a software known because the Onion Router (or TOR) to get to the darknet. Originally created by the US Government, TOR is an anonymising browser that enables customers to enter the darknet and blocks their identity. Adding to this layer of safety and anonymity is the use of cryptocurrency to make transactions on the darknet.

Darknet drug markets

Perhaps one of the most properly-identified features of the darknet is its internet hosting of massive-scale drug markets. This was no more visible than with the rise of the Silk Road marketplace within the early 2010s. Founded by Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), the Silk Road offered a large variety of items, however was an notorious drug market - with medicine accounting for 70% of the medicine bought in spring 2013. At its top, Silk Road was estimated to be worth $34.5m. Silk Road was eventually shut down by the FBI in October 2013, following the arrest of Ross Ulbricht.

More not too long ago, 2022 saw the fall of another distinguished darknet identify. Launched in 2015, the Russian market, Hydra Market, was identified for its commerce in medicine amongst other things. The Hydra Market grew to develop into one in all the biggest marketplaces on the darknet, accounting for around 80% of darknet exercise and amassing 19,000 vendor accounts and 17 million customers. When it comes to drug gross sales, Hydra Market became the most important narcotic market amongst the previous nations of the USSR. Hydra Market met a similar demise to the Silk Road when it was shut down by German police in April 2022.

The state of play in 2023

Following the demise of Hydra Market in 2022, dozens of recent darknet markets emerged - a number of these being darknet drug markets which targeted former Hydra prospects and distributors.

According to research from varied safety sources, numerous markets reared their heads as key players after Hydra’s shut down, each taking it in flip to steer the market. By the tip of its first month in operation, OMG! OMG! Market had already gained round $12.15 million in gross sales. Much like Hydra Market, quite a few Russian darknet markets have risen up the rankings, the largest of which seems to be mega darknet market Market, which received $40m in March alone. This is adopted by Blacksprut, with round $20m.

As encryption, anonymity and privacy are central to the design of the darknet and its numerous drug markets, up-to-date data on drug tendencies is tough to come by. Analysis from the World Drug Report 2023 means that while the average buyer is spending extra on drug transactions (rising from $a hundred per transaction in 2018 to $500 in 2021), the number of lively consumers and transactions have notably decreased.

Interestingly, the rise of social media as an rising drug market has also impacted purchasing trends. Self-reported knowledge means that social media platforms have change into favourable for low-degree transactions of cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine, whereas new psychoactive substances are still offered to a better diploma by way of the darknet.

In relation to who darknet drug markets sell to, there also appears to have been a change of tack. For most marketplaces, the normal buyer has finally been the tip consumer of the product sold - however, consultants suggest that darknet drug markets are beginning to shift in direction of wholesale. The decline in the variety of lively markets, members and transactions, contrasted with a rise in overall darknet gross sales and common transactions signifies that vendors may instead be promoting to drug distributors, or may have widened their array of services.

To date, 2023 has introduced darknet drug markets with a lot of challenges - nonetheless, their means to bounce back regardless of these clearly exhibits they won’t be going anyplace anytime quickly. The rise of social media for ‘low-level’ drug transactions means that darknet drug markets will proceed to adapt their response, focusing on wholesale drug distributors, fairly than the tip consumer.

This piece was written by Volteface Content and Media Officer Megan Townsend. She is especially involved in the reform of drug legislation, subcultural drug use and harm reduction initiatives. She also has an MA in Criminology from Birmingham City University. Tweets @megant2799.