Security News > 2022 > April > Germany takes down Hydra, world's largest darknet market

The servers of Hydra Market, the most prominent Russian darknet platform for selling drugs and money laundering, have been seized by the German police.

The confiscated money indicate the size of the Hydra market, which counted around 19,000 registered seller accounts that served at least 17 million customers around the world.

In an announcement today, the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime and Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office estimate that Hydra Market had a turnover of $1.35 billion in 2020, making it the largest darknet market in the world.

Apart from narcotics and money laundering services, which were the main focus, Hydra also offered stolen databases, forged documents, and hacking for hire services.

As the BKA announcement points out, Hydra Market featured a Bitcoin Bank Mixer, which obfuscated all cryptocurrency transactions made on the platform, making it hard for law enforcement agencies to track money obtained from illegal activities.

Bleeping Computer has attempted to source more information in that regard, and we will update this post as soon as we hear back from BKA. In the meantime, the seized equipment most likely contains incriminating evidence on Hydra sellers and clients, so a significant number of users could be charged in an upcoming second phase.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/legal/germany-takes-down-hydra-worlds-largest-darknet-market/