This post signifies the launch of The Free Market.
What makes us different is our perspective on security, our approach to mitigating risk, the market functionality and the aesthetics of the interface.
Our team has over a period of months (prior to Operation Onymous), been looking for solutions regarding every confirmed, reported, bullshit, or theoretical attack that could possibly deanonymize a market. If there is was no solution or we weren't satisfied with end result we started from scratch until there was a viable option. After this process was completed, only then did we begin coding the site and building the infrastructure.
Instead of being ignorant and thinking we're impregnable, and not open to the fact that there may be a flaw with Tor, we have made sure that in the event that our servers ever be discovered, mirrored or compromised, everything of any interest to law enforcement will be encrypted, with no loss of funds for buyers or vendors.
Buyers do NOT need accounts on a DNM, all a buyer account achieves is a clear trail of information and history, in addition to this holding coins designated to an account, providing an opportunity for their coins to be stolen or seized. On The Free Market to make a purchase, simply navigate to the desired listing, complete the order form and then fund the escrow directly. The buyer will be provided with a Reference Number, that, along with the pin the buyer set while making their order gives them access to view and make any necessary order management actions, such as contacting the vendor, requesting auto finalization extensions, opening disputes and leaving feedback. PGP is used extensively throughout the service, it is enforced by default, although we strongly recommended against it, vendors can disable the forcing of PGP on buyers.
With a goal of providing a safe platform for both buyers and vendors, The Free Market has a bond system that enables the vendor to request limited early finalization only when they have sufficient available funds in their bond. When a request is made a percentage of their bond is held as insurance against the funds that have been released by the buyer. With time and satisfied customers, the vendors maximum request limit will be increased and the percentage held by us as insurance will decrease.
Vendors receive payment directly within the hour of an order being released from escrow, funds are sent to one of the vendors five predefined payment addresses. This ensures vendors do not accumulate any funds being held by the market, outside of their bond and centralized escrow transactions that are still in progress. Vendors can withdraw from their available bond funds at any time.
The Free Market is now in the process of signing up Vendors. The checkout will officially open on Friday, January 16th at 11:59PM UTC.
If you are a vendor interested in signing up the, the market domain is: http://tfmarket6iaddx45.onion Current application fees are set at $50.00 per account. Existing vendors with extensive positive history on other markets can register and submit a support ticket to have this fee waived.
EDIT -- We will continue answering questions for the next two hours, from then on any inquiries should be sent to our support system.
EDIT -- Thank you for your questions, direct any further questions towards our support system. We are aiming to develop a great reputation among this resilient community.
Check back in one week to be put on the sidebar marketplace list. best of luck to you.