| Type of site | Darknet market |
|---|---|
| Available in | Russian |
| Revenue | $5 billion dollars (lifetime) |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 17 million users 19,000 sellers |
| Launched | 2015 |
| Current status | Offline since April 2022 |
Hydra (Russian: Гидра) was a Russian language dark web marketplace, founded in 2015, that facilitated trafficking of illegal drugs, financial services including cryptocurrency tumbling for money laundering, exchange services between cryptocurrency and Russian rubles, and the sale of falsified documents and hacking services. Hydra was shut down by American and German law enforcement action in April 2022, and its operator was sentenced to life in prison by a Russian court in December 2024.
Services
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2024) |
Unique among dark net marketplaces, Hydra provided various criminal financial services.
Closure
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. The United States Department of Justice has indicted one Russian man for his role in running the servers for the website. In December 2024, a Russian court sentenced Hydra operator Stanislav Moiseyev to life in prison. Fifteen accomplices also received sentences of eight to 23 years.
At the time of server takedown it had 17 million registered customers.
The closure of Hydra started the ongoing Russian darknet market conflict among Russian darknet marketplace operators.
References
- Kan, Michael. "German Police Take Down Hydra Market, a Major Dark Web Marketplace". PCMag. Archived from the original on 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ Greenberg, Andy. "Shutdown of Russia's Hydra Market Disrupts a Crypto-Crime ATM". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ Mangan, Dan (2022-04-05). "World's biggest darknet marketplace, Russia-linked Hydra Market, seized and shut down, DOJ says". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ Goodin, Dan (December 4, 2024). "Russian court sentences kingpin of Hydra drug marketplace to life in prison". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
- "Law enforcement seized Hydra servers, $25m in digicash". www.theregister.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- "Germany shuts down world's largest illegal marketplace on darknet with US help". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- "Germany shuts down darknet platform specializing in drugs". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- Goonetilleke et al 2023, "Hydra: Lessons from the World’s Largest Darknet Market"
External links
- Hydra Forums - Hydra Market New Website
- BKA announcement of shutdown
- U.S. Treasury sanction press release
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| News | |
| File storage and peer-to-peer file sharing | |
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| Darknet markets | |
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| Pornography | |
| Other | |
Sites in italics are now offline or discontinued (not counting ambiguously forked sites).
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