Administrators and sellers on darkish internet marketplaces had a greater 2023 than the earlier year, pulling in an estimated $1.7bn in cryptocurrency-based mostly revenues, according to new Chainalysis information.

The blockchain evaluation firm studied cryptocurrency flows from these underground marketplaces and fraud outlets over the previous 12 months.

The rise in income came after a torrid 2022 for the business after its largest player, Hydra, was shut down by the German authorities.

In its place, Mega Darknet now leads the pack with over half a billion dollars of crypto inflows, mega darknet marketmega darknet market adopted by Kraken Market and Blacksprut.

However, overall the sector has fragmented considerably from the days when Silk Road, AlphaBay, Wall Street Market and Hydra ruled the roost. Today, no single player is dominant like these marketplaces have been earlier than their takedown, with administrators preferring to specialize in particular sorts of products and companies.

"Over the years some markets … developed a sturdy catalog of illicit services like money laundering, fiat offramping, and products that enable cyber-criminal activities like ransomware and malware attacks. One such refined darknet market, Hydra, provided all that and extra," Chainalysis explained.