Index/Organizations/Silk Road

Silk Road

Online black market operated as a Tor hidden service

Fact-Checks

30 results
Dec 5, 2025
Most Viewed

How many federal drug offenders received pardons or commutations under Trump and when were they granted?

President Trump has issued clemency to a large and growing number of federal offenders across two nonconsecutive presidencies: 237 acts of clemency (143 pardons, 94 commutations) during his first term...

Nov 23, 2025
Most Viewed

What is the legal status of Styx Market and similar darknet marketplaces in 2025?

Styx Market is repeatedly identified in 2023–2025 reporting as a dark web marketplace that focuses on financial fraud, identity theft and money‑laundering services and that uses escrow and vendor‑trus...

Dec 16, 2025
Most Viewed

How has the case against Ross Ulbricht impacted dark web and fentanyl enforcement?

Ross Ulbricht — founder of the Silk Road dark‑web marketplace — was pardoned by President Trump on Jan. 21, 2025 after serving more than a decade; prosecutors had tied Silk Road to more than $200 mill...

Dec 15, 2025

How do escrow systems and vendor reputations work on darknet markets and can they be faked?

Escrow systems on darknet markets are designed to hold cryptocurrency until a buyer confirms receipt, and by 2025 many markets use multisignature (2-of-3) or automated smart‑contract escrow to limit u...

Oct 5, 2025

What were the charges against Ross Ulbricht and his connection to fentanyl sales?

Ross Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 on charges tied to operating the dark‑web marketplace Silk Road — including narcotics distribution, money laundering and related offenses — and served a life senten...

Jan 12, 2026

black market access links

Requests for "black market access links" are effectively requests for instructions to reach illegal marketplaces; supplying them would facilitate criminal activity and is unsafe, so this report explai...

Jan 19, 2026

Which federal pardon recipients pardoned by Trump were convicted specifically of narcotics trafficking or distribution?

President Trump has pardoned several people whose federal convictions involved narcotics trafficking or distribution; among those documented in the reporting provided are former Honduran president Jua...

Nov 7, 2025

Which darknet markets or forums historically hosted carding vendors (2020–2024)?

Savastan0 and numerous carding-specific shops and forums operated within the underground ecosystem during and after 2019, with evidence of large-scale card inventory and specialized vendor markets; th...

Jan 18, 2026

How does the FBI's Operation Onion Peeler impact Tor user anonymity?

Operation Onion Peeler— the FBI’s investigation that targeted Silk Road and related Tor hidden services—did not “break” Tor’s cryptography but demonstrated that targeted law-enforcement techniques, op...

Dec 11, 2025

What high-profile or controversial pardons did Trump issue and why were they criticized?

President Trump has issued thousands of clemency actions this year, including a blanket pardon for roughly 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, mass pardons for “alternate electors” and ...

Dec 6, 2025

What are the implications of Trump's pardon of Ross Ulbricht for the Silk Road case?

President Trump issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for Ross Ulbricht — the founder of the Silk Road dark‑web marketplace who had been serving life sentences — and Ulbricht was released from fede...

Dec 4, 2025

Were any individuals convicted of fentanyl or opioid trafficking pardoned by Trump after 2020?

Available reporting shows that President Trump has issued pardons after 2020 to people convicted of serious drug-related offenses — most prominently Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road) and former Honduran presi...

Jan 18, 2026

how long does it take law enforcement to make arrest for dark web searches

Arrests stemming from dark‑web searches have no fixed timetable: some cases culminate in arrests within weeks or months when investigators exploit a vulnerability or follow a clear transactional trail...

Dec 17, 2025

how do law enforcement agencies track and shut down dark web carding sites

Law enforcement combines technical exploitation, financial forensics, human intelligence and international legal muscle to track and shut down dark‑web carding sites: investigators use Tor deanonymiza...

Dec 12, 2025

How do law enforcement takedowns and seizures in 2023–2025 affect buyer risk on Styx Market?

Law enforcement takedowns between 2023–2025 have repeatedly disrupted broad-spectrum dark markets but reporting shows STYX Market (launched 2023) has been a resilient, specialized hub for financial fr...

Nov 26, 2025

What operational security (OpSec) mistakes commonly lead Tor users to be deanonymized despite the network's protections?

Tor offers strong network-layer anonymity but user mistakes and certain practical attacks routinely undo that protection; commentators and technical surveys say “human error is the leading cause of de...

Nov 10, 2025

What were the specific charges against Ross Ulbricht in his 2015 trial?

Ross Ulbricht was tried and convicted in 2015 on arising from his operation of the Silk Road darknet marketplace; those counts charged narcotics distribution (including internet-based distribution), c...

Jan 20, 2026

After major takedowns like AlphaBay and Silk Road, which markets rose to fill the vacuum and how quickly?

After high-profile takedowns such as Silk Road (shut by the FBI in October 2013) and AlphaBay (seized during Operation Bayonet in 2017), a succession of marketplaces rose to occupy the vacuum — first ...

Jan 20, 2026

How do law enforcement and security firms disrupt dark‑web marketplaces that sell stolen personal data?

Dark‑web marketplaces that trade stolen personal data rely on anonymizing networks, cryptocurrencies and market features that mimic legitimate e‑commerce, and they are disrupted through a mix of under...

Jan 19, 2026

What specific OPSEC mistakes most frequently appear in court filings related to Tor cases?

Court records and public write‑ups of “Tor cases” repeatedly point to human operational security failures — not a universal collapse of Tor itself — and the mistakes that recur most often are predicta...