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upstart writes:

Competitor markets working to replace Hydra's money-laundering services for cybercriminals:

During the first few months of 2022, business was booming at Hydra Marketplace, the premiere Dark Web destination for cybercrime money laundering and selling narcotics and other illegal goods and services.

In fact, until its takedown in April 2022, Hydra owned a full 93% of all illicit underground economic activities.

[...] Fast forward 10 months after the demise of Russian-based Hydra, and the Dark Web marketplace ecosystem is still struggling to recover. Namely, it's been tough to replicate or replace Hydra's money-laundering services for cybercriminals.

[...] So far, no other marketplace has been able to dominate the Dark Web market like Hydra did in its heyday.

[...] Mounting struggles in the darknet ecosystem present an enormous opportunity to absorb Hydra's user base and reign the underground supreme. But the key to attracting users to these platforms is providing cryptocurrency and fiat currency-laundering services, the research shows.

[...] Dark Web marketplaces are evolving into financial services providers for cybercriminals, Jardine says.

"With Hydra and the evolution of money-laundering services as a feature of the darknet market ecosystem, a number of new financial motivations come into play," Jardine says. "Previous markets, such as Silk Road, largely connected buyers and sellers of drugs, but providing money laundering and fiat currency off-ramp services to cybercriminals ties darknet markets more to the ebb and flow of ransomware and cybercrime than had previously been the case."

Original Submission