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The German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt) in coordination with the United States law enforcement shutdown Hydra Market, the world's largest darknet marketplace.

Law enforcement authorities seized Hydra's servers and cryptocurrency wallets containing 543 bitcoins worth around $25 million.

In separate statements, the Bundeskriminalamt and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said the seizure operation is the result of an extensive investigation since August 2021.

Hydra is an online criminal marketplace that accounted for approximately 80% of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions last year. It received around $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since 2015. Approximately 17 million customers and more than 19,000 seller accounts were registered on this darknet market. In 2020 alone, its revenue was at least $1.35 billion, according to law enforcement authorities.

Individuals or entities, mostly from Russian-speaking speaking countries, use Hydra to anonymously buy and sell illegal goods and services such as fake identification documents, stolen financial information, illicit drugs as well as money laundering, and mixing services. They access Hydra through The Onion Router (TOR) Network to anonymously conduct their illegal transactions in cryptocurrency. The operators of this darknet marketplace charge users a commission for every transaction.

“Together with our German law enforcement partners, we have seized the infrastructure of the world’s largest darknet market, but our work is far from over. We will continue to work alongside our international and interagency partners to disrupt and dismantle darknet markets, and to hold those who commit their crimes on the dark web accountable for their acts," said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

On the other hand, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco commented, “The Department of Justice will not allow darknet markets and cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering and the sale of hacking tools and services. Our message should be clear: we will continue to go after darknet markets and those who exploit them. Together with our partners in Germany and around the world, we will continue our work to disrupt the ecosystem that allows these criminal actors to operate.”

The DOJ is filed criminal charges against a Russian resident named Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov in connection with the shut down of Hydra. The department charged Parloiv with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and conspiracy to commit money laundering for operating and administering Hydra's servers.

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