Dark Net Market archives, 2011-2015

I am releasing all my DNM scrapes: a 50GB (~1.6TB) collection covering 89 DNMs & 37+ related forums, representing <4,438 mirrors.

It can be downloaded as a torrent; for some torrent clients, the torrent may not work for various reasons, in which case you can download everything directly from the IA. But for all the other details, see my writeup on the contents.

A quick overview of what is covered:

I hope it will be useful.


In other news, I am stepping down on /r/DarkNetMarkets mod. I have been planning to do so since the beginning of the year, but I wanted to finish up some big DNM projects before I cut more ties: the first was my arrests/bust compilation and the second is this, releasing the full scrape archive which I've been working on for years.

I'm no longer as interested in the DNMs as I used to be. I was originally lured in by the fascination of watching a small cryptopunk revolution, and I was hopeful that it would go beyond the SR1 model into multisig and beyond. But we have seen little multisig usage, and that augurs ill for the distributed marketplaces. (What if someone built a trustless distributed blackmarket and no one wanted to use it?) Instead, the SR1 business model has proven remarkably durable despite the constant wearying turmoil of exit-scams and hacks and as I write this in mid-July 2015, there seems to be little chance that things will change substantially soon. (If Tor hidden services are cracked, the DNMs will simply move to I2P or Freenet; if Bitcoin starts getting too easily tracked, transactions will be settled in Monero or another cryptocoin with better anonymity properties, etc.) So I'd like to stop investing so much energy into monitoring DNMs, which includes stopping my scrapes and stepping down as moderator.

The exact timing owes something to the LE attention on me; as unpleasant as the ICE subpoena was, I was almost as disturbed by the subsequent Coinbase persecution of people who had done little but donate some Bitcoin to me. (And more recently, an order of some electronics from China arrived with the box open and the packaging so loosely taped one could get one's finger inside it; this could have simply been lazy packing or caused by squishing en route, but on the other hand, international packages at the border have few or no protections so it would be easy to flag a particular name for closer inspection...) I would have liked to finish up earlier, actually, but it's taken a lot of effort to get the archive into a releasable state (just uploading the 52GB to the IA took ~3 days on my connection).

I did not do much in the way of day to day moderation on /r/DNM, so there will be little observable change; the current mod team minus me will be pretty much the same as it was before. I also will probably continue to comment, offer advice, or post from time to time when something interesting comes up; at some point, I would like to finish my overview of proposed distributed market systems from a DNM perspective, and try correlating DNM downtime against the Bitcoin exchange rate.

But otherwise, I am mostly done.

Posting this archive will be my last action as DNM moderator.

It's a good archive, I think. Sorting through it, I refound a lot of things I'd forgotten: the BMR mods chatting on Pastebin about one of them being arrested, unaware that Dutch police were watching them and tapping all their phones and they would be going to jail for years in weeks/months, taking down Utopia with them; Backopy bristling at my criticisms of BMR security while preparing to take down BMR for being insecure; Ross and Rene at StoryTime, totally high, talking about Julia (possibly neither of them will ever see Ross again as he's sent to prison in Virginia for life) and Ross's twitter making an attempt at technical analysis of Bitcoin exchange rates (he sounds competent, but it's rather undermined by how the Mtgox leaks showed he sold off a huge amount of bitcoins not long before Bitcoin made some of its biggest gains ever) and his drawings (totally psychedelic); my crawls of The Marketplace, which never got the credit it deserved for pioneering multisig and tends to be left out of the post-SR1 story; the evidence that Sheep was run by Tomas Jirikovský, which I got so much shit for releasing; all the markets with funny themes like Area51 and Absolem and - of course! - Breaking Bad; even the worst markets like Black Goblin are still amusing to think back on; the Ulbricht trial exhibits where they forgot to redact both copies of information and so wound up leaking information about Force/Bridges and enabling some journalists to ransack DPR's email accounts (they never did release all of what they found, the greedy bastards); and photos of drugs, of every sort, from every market and vendor, drugs you didn't know existed or were still made, etc etc...

All these and more I give you.

I give you back your memories.


Comments


[65 Points] The_Grid_Is_Up:

Farewell Gwern, you shall be missed.


[35 Points] IGetDankShit:

:'(

It's been an honor having you as a moderator and we'll certainly miss your contributions to this community. Keep us updated on future projects. I'd still like to help fund a book on the DNMs written by you if that's something you ever become interested in. Much love and respect to you gwern, you're one of a kind.


[28 Points] pxck:

Thank you based gwern


[21 Points] Jay-__:

Like I already said; I hope you'll find something worthwhile to do soon. You'll surely be missed around here. :/


[18 Points] None:

A sad day for the DNM community indeed, you will be dearly missed


[14 Points] BoxAddict:

I feel like this post deserves a montage or a slideshow with music. So much reminiscing and joyful sadness.


[11 Points] SecondWarning:

Take care, Gwern. Thanks for your help moderating this sub.


[10 Points] boxofpopcorn:

Thank you Gwern, for all of the popcorn.


[9 Points] ShulginsCat:

my overview of proposed distributed market systems from a DNM perspective

What's this about? Can you give some more details what you are thinking here?


[7 Points] select1on:

ohhh wow this is cool, I want to see what's in there for Dnstats. I just bought DarknetMarket.com so I might make it public on there as some kind of archive.

We will miss a real asset here. Hope you pop in now and then. Take care.

I don't have much but I donated a bit over 1btc for your efforts. I'd give more if I can.

Just read your write up, Appreciate the comments. Cheers mate.


[7 Points] natenorman:

So much has happened this year in this community it amazes me. I've seen so much change in a short time, its almost as if I'm coming towards the end of the party. I can't really say where it will go from this point as usual you made some very fine points about stability and change in the community which probably will end up being true.

As soon as I saw this post I knew it was a retirement post, so many mods have left recently I knew you would end up leaving too. I saw your posting get lighter and lighter, with slight hints of frustration in them. Honestly even though you're leaving this whole board owes you.

I'm going to keep it short, thanks Gwern; you made the DNM's safer for everyone.


[7 Points] drimilr:

wow thanks for this! and everything else!! your market analysis is why i became curious, and eventually, albeit casually, stepped into the markets.

good luck! and hope to read more of your analysis down the line; darknet, or otherwise (i might have tried n-back because of your site too. and no, i dont think i got any better at it)


[6 Points] ciphersexual:

THANKS. Will you continue to moderate what remains of /r/silkroad?


[6 Points] None:

peace out gwern. never forgotten


[4 Points] FreeTradeCocaine:

Goodbye Gwern, thank you for all the interesting posts and your contributions to this sub!


[5 Points] culdesacked:

Your write up on your site is impressive, well done. Thanks for all your contributions on DNM.


[4 Points] None:

Very rarely do I save submissions on reddit. This is pure gold. Thank you for everything you've done and taught - I've actually learned a lot from you. With that being said, I hope you have success with whatever future endeavors you may have.


[4 Points] dsfadsfavxzcv:

Gwern, you are an amazing man in many ways.

I feel shitty asking you for one last thing, but could you explain how one might archive /r/darknetmarkets and /r/agmarketplace and how to set up those again if they are ever deleted/banned? Maybe on voat or somewhere else, whatever you think is feasible.


[5 Points] coffeencreme:

Gwern I've been here in different incarnations, lurked and posted, and your work has always been amazing.

Good luck in whatever you do next.


[4 Points] 2ndaxct:

I have been lurking for over 5 months now. You have always offered valuable insight about the DNM's to me, as someone who had no idea about anything.

This is the first time i reply to a post by you. It will be sad seeing you leave, but great that you realized you have to move on.

Good luck with your next venture, it will be as great as your contributions if not more.


[4 Points] TotesMessenger:

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. (Info / Contact)


[3 Points] simplemindedslut:

Thank you for all your efforts. It's rare to have a voice of reason in these murky waters. This is a sad day for our community.


[4 Points] None:

Thank you for all you have done! You will be missed dearly. Much love and respect!


[4 Points] None:

The darknet markets would not be where they are today without you, gwern. You are the master of a very complex subject and I'm thankful of all your time, effort and contribution to the community.

Good luck, and here's to a prosperous future.


[3 Points] None:

5-10 years from now, I hope that things are interesting enough to entice you to come back again. I too am getting bored with DNM's development, but have high hopes for the future.


[6 Points] BabyBunt:

Thank you Gwern, for exhibiting a rarefied and luminescent passion that shown its inspirational light on so many others than just myself.

For anyone interested in listening to a text-to-speech version of the silk road forums, 37-half hour episodes are currently uploaded: https://youtu.be/IUdwmerw4yQ


[4 Points] None:

Thanks for everything Gwern. Downloading the archive now, I can't wait to look through it. I will always keep it as a backup anyways. All the best.


[4 Points] Litecoin_Messiah:

Take care gwern it was nice moderating in this sub reddit with you in the past.


[3 Points] BinaryResult:

You're a legend /u/Gwern !!! Where do you think you will re-focus your attention now?


[3 Points] gwerforpresiedent:

thanks Gwern. Good luck on your next projects.

Also, I'm interested in this material but am not sure if it is really accessible to me. Will I be able to understand the files and material if I've only got a BASIC understanding of webscraping/python?


[3 Points] scoopydoopypoopy:

Thank you for all your effort gwern! It must have required some serious personal willpower to keep up with it all, and it is immensely appreciated


[3 Points] select1on:

I am seeding this Torrent until dnstats.net dies.. so for a while I hope.


[2 Points] None:

You will be missed and thanks for your efforts. I have spent hours on your site. Read some stuff twice....Enjoy your next efforts.

I think a good send off would be for everyone with leftover change in there wallet donate it to Gwern!


[2 Points] None:

I will miss you and I hope you still browse and give good information when you can. I hope they don't take down this subreddit, either, tomorrow. Either way, thank you for everything you've done, I'll catch you on the flip side.


[2 Points] Axaq:

Fantastic work Gwern, this will help tremendously with my own ventures, good luck for the future pal.


[2 Points] herodose1943:

Fuck that last line sent chills down my spine. It's sad to see you go Gwern but thank you for your amazing work.


[2 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] SecondWarning:

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

https://www.reddit.com/r/DEAagents/


[2 Points] None:

So are the archives a 50gb download or a terabyte?


[1 Points] sobulbous:

Have you been cast as a synth on Humans or something?

Seriously, this data is invaluable and your efforts always went above and beyond. Thank you.


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] PathlessDemon:

I've only been subbed here to see just a handful of your helpful additions /u/Gwern, but thank you for everything you've done in this community.

I hope you're next project keeps you happy with a stellar fanbase as you've made here as a mod.


[1 Points] wootpedofundingijaid:

Wow you even covered pedofunding? You should check out the newest form of it called pedo-co-operative where instead of paying for it you use your computer to mine darkcoins which are paid out to uploaders.

Markets are evolving, it just takes longer for some than others.


[1 Points] r0k1t:

Hey Gwern, i think I'm not only speaking for myself, when I say that it truly has been an amazing time, since I get to know you earlier this year. I cannot think of much people or things that have brought so much entertainment and interesting content to me.

While I'm also a bit sad to hear that you are stepping down as a mod and probably will spend less time on DNM research, I also hope you will still hang out in IRC and/or reddit and we get to witness more of your amazement!

I doubt that I will ever get to know a person as unique and clever as you are :)

On the other hand, I was asking myself for some time now, where you take the energy and motivation from to do all the stuff you do. Espescially with (from what I could see) not that much love coming back from the community. I'm following the whole DNM/SR Trial/etc. since about end '14 and a small oversaturation has set in on me too.

I hope you will find something as interesting as the DNM scene was and we get to know what its about.

If everybody would be honest, he/she would donate you a bit, for all your work and effort. I have payed much more for things that had much less value than what you do.

I wish You all the best!

Greetings

r0kit


[1 Points] LedLevee:

You mention that the SR1 model is surprisingly durable and that there seems little interest in developing multi-sig and trustless markets. I assume you refer to P2P and OpenBazaar like projects?

Why do you think that is? In my head nobody wants to really develop those because you can't make money off of them right? A trustless market has no commissions, correct?

If this is not true, could you explain a valid business model with a trustless market that also generates income?

Thanks for all that you've done for the community. Losing a huge asset today. Stay safe!


[1 Points] galaxyandspace:

Thank you for all the info you have provided. Your reasons for stepping down sound quite similar to mine.

Good luck on all future endeavors.


[1 Points] troubledteendwight:

Thanks for all your hard work! Awesome stuff here.


[1 Points] gramsadmin:

Thank You for all your hard work


[1 Points] MXEMan:

A deep and hearty thank you, gwern, for your efforts on behalf of all of us.

I feel much the same as you. I fear the lack of adaptation in the markets to obvious threats from thieves and LE will ultimately result in their demise. My personal business model moving forward is to gather a small, elite customer base and possibly work as a direct supplier to a dnm vendor or two.


[1 Points] DrinkMoreCodeMore:

How many government special agents have contacted you since the subpoena ?


[1 Points] corwin06:

I give you back your memories.

This is what "information wants to be free" means. It means never having to forget anything ever again.

This is the history of the Internet.


[1 Points] Farfetchedchild:

Thank you for all of your work. You've been a huge asset to not only this community, but to representing research and journalism (as it should be) as a whole.


[0 Points] sapiophile:

<3


[0 Points] Vendor_BBMC:

Nobody bothered to document the early days of rock & roll, or hip hop. They just seemed like fads at the time.

You had the vision to know that all the chaos and flailing around in the darkness of the darknet would turn out to be important, important enough to document.

Elvis is dead (well, incarcerated), and even you are starting to think the best of the DNM fad might be over.

Its not. Its just a bit like 1962. It seems like all the markets are bad guys, the vendors are bad guys, and even LE are corrupt. Ross may have been the first good man, uncorrupted by the bitcoin, to have a vision for the future. Im sure he wont be the last, so dont let a bout of tor fatigue get you down.

The same anonymity which allows us to trade also allows us to rip each other off, so what's the point in working so hard when its all going nowhere?

It IS going somewhere. Every problem will be solved, so don't mourn the loss of a technological red-herring like fancy escrows.

Scammers are weak, and they are stupid. They dont believe their own rational mind that the best way of doing things always wins. Reputation on the darknet IS THE ONLY THING WORTH COVETING. Why throw it away for a few bitcoin, or because it doesnt seem to be moving forward? Because it will rival the GDP of major countries.

I appreciate you,Gwerningham. I can probably infer that youve been taking shit behind the scenes.

DNMs are going to be bigger, better and more important than even you thought.

Don't retire now, or you will miss the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.