One moderator and six of the top vendors on the platform were also arrested and assets worth 7.8 million euros were seized in the process. According to a February 2024 study in the journal International Criminal Justice Review, most of the users of the previously-popular darknet market Flugsvamp migrated to Archetyp following security issues and allegations of fraud at Flugsvamp. Archetyp was an online drug marketplace, and only accepted drug-related listings. It had more than 600,000 users worldwide and 17,000 listings consisting mainly of illicit drugs including MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine.
What’s Behind This Likely Exit Scam?
Archetyp’s use of Monero cryptocurrency highlights the challenges authorities face in tracking financial flows on the darknet. The dismantling of Archetyp Market marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against darknet drug trafficking. This massive crackdown resulted in the seizure of 47 smartphones, 45 computers, narcotics, and assets worth €7.8 million, cutting off one of the darknet’s major drug supply lines. Since its launch in May 2020, Archetyp grew into a sprawling platform facilitating massive illegal drug sales across multiple countries.
These efforts helped it become one of the most active platforms among Australian users. TRM will continue to closely monitor the evolving DNM landscape, including emerging platforms, vendor migration patterns, and on-chain activity, to support efforts to disrupt illicit actors and safeguard the broader crypto ecosystem. Cases like Nemesis Market and Monopoly Market indicate that law enforcement agencies now prefer to take down DNMs without announcing it publicly — and potentially alerting vendors under investigation. As a result, law enforcement has adopted an intelligence-led enforcement strategy incorporating DNM takedowns into longer-term investigations rather than treating them as end goals. Even as major darknet platforms fall, TRM Labs data shows that the ecosystem remains highly adaptive.
Abacus Market Conducts Likely Exit Scam Amid Increasingly Unstable Western Darknet Marketplace Landscape
Around 300 officers were deployed during the takedown, which resulted in the platform being taken offline, several arrests and the seizure of approximately €7.8m ($9m) in assets. As a result of the action, the platform’s infrastructure in the Netherlands was taken offline and its administrator – a 30-year-old German national – was arrested in Barcelona, Spain. While we want to offer a free platform and market and this is usually being seen as a criminal activity, we do have rules, morale and values.
The Agency organised multiple coordination meetings, which enabled authorities to exchange critical information for the investigation. A coordinated action week was planned to dismantle Archetyp and arrest those responsible for selling and operating the platform, under the coordination of Eurojust and Europol. Investigations into Archetyp revealed that its creator and current administrator is a German national residing in Spain. Archetyp was one of the only platforms to allow the sale of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. Eurojust and Europol coordinated the investigations and operations, which led to the arrest of eight persons in total.
After the 2022 shutdown of the Russian Hydra marketplace, a new Russian market popped up to replace it almost immediately, TRM Labs said. “These peer-to-peer models offer faster turnaround times, reduced fees, and a lower risk of platform takedown, complicating enforcement efforts,” TRM Labs said. Key Archetyp personal and technical infrastructure were targeted in the raids, which saw the alleged administrator, a German national, arrested in Spain, with Europol saying they also arrested a moderator and six of the site’s largest vendors in Germany and Sweden. Always cross-check URLs with trusted darknet repositories like Dark.fail or tortaxi.online to avoid phishing traps. Archetyp market functions as a vendor-centric platform, where sellers maintain greater control over their shops while buyers benefit from enforced Multisig protection. It was seized in June 2025 by the BKA, the German federal police agency.
According to Europol, the resulting takedown took place between June 11 and 13, with the goal of “targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, key vendors, and technical infrastructure” across the European continent. Archetyp Market, a site on the dark web that sold illegal drugs, has been shut down after police in Europe arrested its administrator. One Archetyp Market moderator and six of the marketplace's highest vendors were also arrested in Germany and Sweden. As part of this joint action codenamed 'Operation Deep Sentinel' (led by German police and supported by Europol and Eurojust), investigators in the Netherlands took down the marketplace's infrastructure, while a 30-year-old German national suspected of being Archetyp Market's administrator was apprehended in Barcelona, Spain. Over its five years of activity, the marketplace amassed over 612,000 users with a total transaction volume of over €250 million (approximately $289 million) in Monero cryptocurrency transactions.
Archetyp had more than 17,000 listings at the time of its takedown from around 3,200 registered vendors, and was one of the few marketplaces of its kind that allowed the sale of fentanyl. Users benefit from archetyp market darknet's robust security architecture that includes mandatory PGP encryption for all communications. Carefully vetted vendors within this archetyp marketplace darknet environment provide diverse product offerings spanning digital services, privacy tools, and specialized equipment.
- Users encountered ‘maintenance’ messages and several alternative access links failed to load.
- Key red flags include missing .onion extensions, invalid SSL certificates, absence of PGP login requirements, and urgent "account verification" messages designed to steal credentials Archetyp market.
- The takedown brings an end to a major online drug marketplace that had operated largely uninterrupted for over five years.
- Silk Road, launched in early 2011, was the world’s first major Tor based marketplace.
The drug marketplace’s infrastructure was seized in the Netherlands, and police in Germany and Sweden confiscated $9 million from a moderator and six of the platform’s top vendors. As darknet marketplaces continue to disappear without warning, whether through exit scams or unannounced law enforcement operations, blockchain intelligence firms, such as TRM, remain a key component to help investigators. "With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web's longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world's most dangerous substances," said Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol. While law enforcement typically continues to target the largest darknet marketplaces like Archetyp, it has moved away from multi-DNM takedowns such as 2014’s Operation Onymous.
Bridging The Divide: Actionable Strategies To Secure Your SaaS Environments
This page below remains for the history…. Additionally, Archetyp Market employs a secure escrow system to protect both buyers and sellers during transactions and offers a dispute resolution process to address any issues that may arise. To access Archetyp Market, users must utilize the Tor network, which provides a high level of anonymity and privacy.
Eurocops Arrest Suspected Archetyp Admin, Shut Down Mega Dark Web Drug Shop
However, when a DNM collapses — especially a large and reputable market — its users typically migrate to the nearest available platform. TRM Labs analysis shows that nearly half of the marketplaces launched in 2024 accepted only Monero — a sharp increase from just over one-third in 2023. In early July, 2025, Abacus Market, the largest Bitcoin-enabled Western darknet marketplace (DNM), went offline, rendering all internet-facing infrastructure, including its clearnet mirror, inaccessible. The action week took place between 11 and 13 June, targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, key vendors and the servers running the website.
- Silk Road’s demise proved that even Tor hidden sites could be penetrated by good detective work, prompting many users to flee to successor markets.
- In May, law enforcement arrested another 270 suspects following an international joint action known as 'Operation RapTor' that targeted dark web vendors and their customers from ten countries.
- "With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web's longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world's most dangerous substances," said Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol.
- By 2025, agencies also use dark web search Engines and honeypots to infiltrate markets.
- Like Archetyp, Incognito had become a dominant marketplace before its fall, with over USD 100 million in drug-related transactions since its launch.
- According to Europol, the resulting takedown took place between June 11 and 13, with the goal of “targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, key vendors, and technical infrastructure” across the European continent.
The takedown was led by German authorities, with Europol and Eurojust facilitating intelligence sharing, operational coordination, and legal cooperation across borders. Payments on the platform were made exclusively with Monero, a privacy-enhanced cryptocurrency the architecture of which makes tracing blockchain transactions much more of a pain for authorities. The scale of its operation puts it on a similar level to the dark web's previous marketplace monopolizers such as Dream and Silk Road. The marketplace had more than 600,000 users with a total transaction volume of at least €250 million ($289 million). Integrated security features within the archetyp darknet official system actively prevent fraudulent access attempts. Learn how to protect yourself – read our full darknet safety guide and access verified onion markets the right way.
Eurojust Publications
The market's takedown came after years of effort from Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Law enforcement warns that no site is safe previous markets even the biggest ones have all eventually fallen. Operation Deep Sentinel June 2025 was the Europe led operation that seized Archetyp Market. This unprecedented coordinated takedown froze millions in Bitcoin and led to indictments of Hydra’s operators. On Apr 5, 2022, German police with US help seized Hydra’s servers and crypto wallets. It dominated Russian and Eastern European trade in drugs and stolen data.
Why Archetyp Market Mirrors Are A Must
As we were not able to find out, which market performed these attacks, our best possible way to payback, was to expand our market to the whole world, to try and takeaway some customers from the attacker \m/ Initially we opened as EU only market, that was back in May 2020, we wanted to offer a specialized market for Europe, where everything will be customized for Europe only, to serve European interests. You opened as an EU only market, why? We sent a few questions to the admin of the market, a small interview. With some unique features, security by default and cutting-edge technology and design.
Browse our complete collection of verified onion links for darknet markets, forums, and services. While not based in Australia, Abacus Market gained strong traction with local darknet users by embracing cultural references, supporting Australian vendors, and featuring a dedicated moderator from the region. Following the 2022 shutdown of Hydra Market, TRM identified new Russian-language darknet markets emerging that by 2024 accounted for more than 97% of global darknet drug revenues. The marketplace’s administrator, known as ‘Vito’, responded on darkweb discussion forum Dread, claiming an influx of Archetyp users and a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack were the reasons for the issues. Investigators discovered the location of the servers, moderators and vendors on the marketplace.
Europol Dismantles ‘Archetyp’ Dark Web Drug Market
The coordinated takedown brought an end to a prolific drug marketplace that accumulated more than $290 million in transaction volume since operations began in 2020. During the same operation, police officers in Europe, South America, Asia, and the United States also seized more than 2 tonnes of drugs (including amphetamines, cocaine, ketamine, opioids, and cannabis), over €184 million ($207 million) in cash and cryptocurrency, and over 180 firearms. Archetyp Market sellers provided the market's customers with access to high volumes of drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, cannabis, MDMA, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl through more than 3,200 registered vendors and over 17,000 listings. Law enforcement authorities from six countries took down the Archetyp Market, an infamous darknet drug marketplace that has been operating since May 2020. In addition to drugs like cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines, Archetyp Market was known for facilitating the anonymous trade of high-risk substances, placing it alongside notorious former darknet platforms such as Silk Road and Dream Market.
International Cops Shutter Two Dark Web Sites, Arrest Three Accused Of Running Wall Street Market
The BKA also said 20 additional properties were searched, mainly targeting Archtetyp moderators and vendors. The suspected admin of the operations owns property in Hanover and Bucharest too, all of which were searched by domestic law enforcement. Proper archetyp link darknet setup guarantees optimal anonymity and complete user protection. Archetyp mirror services form the backbone of marketplace reliability and continuous availability. Archetyp market has emerged as a cornerstone of secure anonymous commerce within the darknet ecosystem.
Archetyp Darknet Market
It connected thousands of vendors to customers in Europe and beyond, with drugs advertised as product listings, paid for in cryptocurrency and typically delivered through postal networks. When Archetyp, one of the largest and oldest dark web drug markets, was dismantled in June 2025, the authorities framed it as a ‘severe blow’ to European organized crime. Despite the dismantling of dark web drug market Archetyp, illicit marketplaces reassemble faster than they fall
