"World's Largest Darknet Market Shut Down, $25 Million in Bitcoin Seized"
The Hydra marketplace, the world's largest darknet marketplace selling illicit substances, hacking tools, falsified documents, and stolen data, was shut down in a coordinated effort. The criminal marketplace, which had about 17 million consumer accounts, made billions of dollars in bitcoin before its takedown. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) revealed that it secured and closed Hydra's server infrastructure, and $25 million in bitcoin attributed to the Hydra marketplace was seized. At the same time, Hydra was sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This was a collaborative effort between multiple federal agencies in the US and the German Federal Criminal Police. According to the US Department of the Treasury, Hydra was launched in 2015 and became the most well-known Russian darknet market and the largest darknet market globally. Hydra traded in Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), breach services and software, stolen personal information, counterfeit currency, stolen virtual currency, and illegal drugs. This article continues to discuss the history and takedown of the Hydra marketplace.