Darknet markets have witnessed a rise in their crypto revenue in 2023 following the closure of the Hydra marketplace in 2022. According to data released by Chainalysis, the revenue from fraud shops and darknet marketplaces grew to nearly $2 billion in 2023, marking a 25% increase from the previous year.

Darknet crypto revenue | Source: Chainalysis

After the shutdown of Hydra, two new darknet marketplaces emerged prominently, especially in Moscow, as observed by Chainalysis.

The analysis from Chainalysis noted that while the darknet market ecosystem is showing signs of recovery, it has not yet reached the revenue levels seen before the closure of the Hydra Marketplace in 2022.

The data further indicates that one of the newly established marketplaces had crypto inflows exceeding half a billion dollars in 2023, indicating a rising demand for illicit services such as money laundering, ransomware, and malware attacks despite international law enforcement efforts.

Despite these developments, Chainalysis points out that no dominant player has emerged as the primary platform offering a wide array of illicit products in the darknet market ecosystem thus far.

In recent news, Roman Sterlingov, the founder of Bitcoin Fog, a crypto mixing service, was found guilty by a federal court for money laundering associated with illicit drug sales on the dark web. Prosecutors stated that Bitcoin Fog facilitated the concealment of over $400 million in transactions, with $78 million directly tied to major darknet marketplaces.