The dark web is a hidden part of the internet where users can browse websites and content anonymously. It’s often used for criminal activities, such as buying and selling drugs or weapons.
There are many different dark web markets, but some are more popular than others. Here are the five most popular dark web markets in 2022:
1. Kingdom Market
Kingdom Market is one of the biggest darknet markets out there, and it’s been around for a while. It’s a popular choice for buying drugs, weapons, and other illegal items.
The Kingdom Marketplace is a typical market that provides all of the functions necessary to make secure purchases with crypto: XMR, BTC, LTC, and ZEC are all accepted cryptocurrencies. They ask you to disable JavaScript on the Tor browser, so be prepared for some extra steps. They may all be received in your accounts wallet. For automatic message encryption, Kingdom supports traditional PGP.
2. AlphaBay
It was shut down back in 2017 after federal law enforcement agencies took action to arrest the founder, Alexandre Cazes, who was later found dead in his Thai jail cell due to a suspected suicide. The current owner, known as DeSnake relaunched it in 2021 with a host of new security measures in place.
As part of the site’s rebranding, many new features have been advertised and new regulations introduced. AlphaGuard (which is supposed to prevent users from losing money even if all servers are seized at the same time), an automated method for settling disputes between buyers and sellers, Monero wallets that are exclusive to this marketplace, and I2P mirrors are just a few of the new features.
3. Hydra Market
The entire market is published in Russian. Hydra providers serve countries including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Moldova. Each nation is divided into numerous urban areas or “oblasti,” making local “dead drop” deliveries easy. If you don’t reside in one of the following nations, finding a vendor who will send to you might be difficult. In contrast, digital objects may be obtained from virtually any location.
It goes without saying that these markets carry goods and services that are expressly illegal in most jurisdictions around the planet. Should you want to do a little browsing, without buying, you are likely within your rights, but making transactions in an entirely different matter and one that should be approached with caution due to the nature of these darknet markets. First, read our guide to using darknet markets online.