Australian couple arrested for operating DarkMarket platform that accepts Bitcoin and Monero
German prosecutors charged an Australian couple who allegedly operated a DarkMarket. It is one of the world’s largest illegal marketplaces on the darknet.
DarkMarket was down last January 11 and the operator of the marketplace was under siege near the Germany-Denmark border right after. His wife was responsible for the design of the website and mediation of customer issues. The Australian couple has now been officially under arrest by German prosecutors.
What is a DarkMarket?
DarkMarket is a virtual marketplace that sells all kinds of illegal items. It operated on the darknet and users paid with crypto like Bitcoin and Monero.
“Illegal drugs of all kinds, counterfeit money, stolen or forged credit cards, malware and many other illegal goods were traded on ‘DarkMarket’.”
Koblenz Prosecutor General’s Office
DarkMarket was a large marketplace with roughly 500,000 users and over 2,400 sellers. Making around 320,000 transactions during its operation: trading over 4,650 Bitcoin and 12,800 Monero.
DarkMarket’s Origins
In 2014, DarkMarket was one of the winners of the Bitcoin Expo hackathon in Toronto, Canada. The project is a decentralized marketplace that can’t be shut down. The Ethereum Twitter account also put up a post that congratulates the team:
Global Crypto Crackdown
As of now, there seems to be an increasing global crackdown on those who use crypto for heinous purposes.
Recently, Chinese police arrested 1,100 people for crypto related money laundering charges. Also, last April, a Swedish-Russian citizen was under arrest for operating a darknet Bitcoin website, Bitcoin Fog, and he was also guilty of laundering around $366 million.
What are the other illegal activities in the DarkNet that will be under siege next?
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