《BUSTED》.pdf

BUSTED, BUT NOT BROKEN THE STATE OF SILK ROAD AND THE DARKNET MARKETPLACES A DIGITAL CITIZENS ALLIANCE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Ten months ago, the Digital Citizens Alliance began researching illicit online marketplaces, including Silk Road (pre- and post-arrest of Ross Ulbricht, accused of being Silk Road’s notorious operator “Dread Pirate Roberts”). This report details the findings of Digital Citizens researchers, including the following key takeaways: Key takeaways: • Approximately 13,648 listings for drugs are now available on Silk Road compared to the 13,000 that were listed shortly before the FBI arrested Ulbricht and shut down the site. In comparison, Silk Road’s closest competitor, Agora, has just roughly 7,400 drug listings. • There is significantly more competition today than when the original Silk Road was seized. Silk Road 2.0 currently contains 5% more listings for drugs than its predecessor held at the time of its seizure. By comparison, the Darknet drug economy as a whole contains 75% more listings for drugs. • Silk Road and other Darknet marketplaces continue to do steady business despite the arrests of additional alleged operators who authorities say worked for Ulbricht. • A series of scam markets, which appeared as opportunists tried to fill the void while the original Silk Road was shut down, created distrust among customers after the operators allegedly stole tens of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. It is speculated that the resulting distrust may be one of the factors helping Silk Road rebuild its user base so quickly. • In chat rooms used by both operators and customers, many believe that the fallout from Ulbricht’s arrest is complete. Some, who claim to be informed insiders, say that Ulbricht has surrendered as much information as he has to offer. These sa