Bitcoin and Tron fuel Russia’s darknet dominance, accounting for 97% of sales: report

Russian-language darknet marketplaces have strengthened their dominance and account for over 97% of cryptocurrency-enabled sales volume.

According to a new report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, this is a 1% increase from 2023. The data shows that Bitcoin and Tron remain the cryptocurrencies of choice for these markets. This comes as overall cryptocurrency-enabled online sales of illicit drugs grew by over 19% between 2023 and 2024.

Russian darknet marketplaces rely on Bitcoin and Tron

The darknet marketplace market in the Russian language has continued to be the leading market for selling illicit drugs. According to the research findings, the market is driven mostly by business on Bitcoin and Tron networks. Although darknet marketplaces globally experienced a myriad of challenges during 2024, the Russian market continued to exhibit vigor and resilience.

Based on TRM Labs, a number of reasons have made Russian-language platforms successful. The report identifies the lower threat of action from Russian law enforcement as one of the most important factors enabling these marketplaces to be run with a degree of autonomy. This lower legal pressure has enabled the ecosystem to expand primarily with just four Russian-language darknet marketplaces going offline from about 20 active platforms in 2024.

The Russian markets utilize a dead drop delivery system, which minimizes the direct interface between sellers and buyers. Additionally, their focus on synthetic drugs such as alpha-PVP and mephedrone minimizes vulnerabilities in the supply chain. The report continues to cite the wide availability and low price of drug precursor chemicals normally imported from China as another advantage for these operations.

Unlike their Western counterparts, Russian-language marketplaces have been more stable in operations. Even when leaders like Solaris Market closed down during the autumn of 2024, they did so on a voluntary basis and not through exit scams.

This stability and operational security have occurred despite the lack of large-scale law enforcement shutdowns of Russian-language platforms since April 2022, when Hydra Market was shut down.

Western markets are plagued by law enforcement efforts and exit scams

The Western darknet market ecosystem experienced a number of challenges during 2024. A string of law enforcement activity and high-profile exit scams hit user confidence hard. In its report, TRM Labs states that this engendered distrust on a par with the post-major operations such as “Op. Onymous” in 2014 and “Op. Bayonet/GraveSac” in 2017.

The year had started with the disappearance of Bohemia Market and its sister site Cannabia Market in January. It was subsequently confirmed to be under investigation by Dutch authorities. This was preceded by the exit scam of Incognito Market in March 2024.

Pharoah, who would subsequently be discovered as 23-year-old Taiwanese national Rui-Siang Lin, was busted in May of 2024. The situation continued to intensify with German law enforcement shutting down Nemesis Market in March 2024, as well as the retirements of other respected platforms such as Cypher Market in April and GoFish Market in September.

In spite of these difficulties, there was some innovation in the Western ecosystem. The report identifies the first merger and acquisition between two marketplaces on the darknet. 2024 also saw the founding of Si Market. It was termed the first Telegram-only Western darknet marketplace, which currently accommodates over 40 vendors selling psychedelics, cannabis, and associated products.

Cryptocurrency volumes doubled in 2024

The online illicit drug trade continued to change beyond traditional darknet marketplaces throughout 2024. TRM Labs has reported a change toward encrypted chat applications, social media platforms, and individual vendor shops. This decentralization trend has now spread to the Russian-language ecosystem as well.

Vendor shop drug sales saw particularly strong growth, with cryptocurrency volumes more than doubling from approximately $289 million in 2023 to over $600 million in 2024. This increase shows vendors’ adaptation to operating across multiple platforms on both the clearnet and darknet.

The report points out that today’s vendors are “opting to open vendor shops and make direct transactions via a wide variety of encrypted communication software and email.” These websites enable access by less technologically savvy customers while reducing risks linked to market instability due to exit scams or law enforcement interventions.

Platforms such as Telegram and Signal have lowered access barriers for drug buyers to get products over the internet. Nevertheless, a significant platform movement among drug dealers was triggered by the August 2024 arrest of Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov. Most have already started moving over to other platforms such as Signal, Session, and WhatsApp.

The report further identifies a reduction of cryptocurrency transactions to Chinese fentanyl precursor manufacturers from $27.6 million in 2023 to $17.0 million in 2024. Such reduction may partly be due to a strengthening in the enforcement mechanism from the Chinese side following the Biden-Xi meeting in November of 2023.

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