Gate News bot message, the European Cybercrime Centre stated on Monday that it has shut down the main infrastructure of Archetyp Market, one of the longest-running dark web markets, in the Netherlands through a series of raids involving six countries.
The target of this raid was key individuals and technical infrastructure of Archetyp, and it is reported that the site’s administrator (a German citizen) was arrested in Spain. Europol stated that they also arrested a moderator in Germany and six of the site’s largest suppliers in Sweden.
Such dark web markets rely on cryptocurrencies for transactions, while Archetyp uses the privacy-focused token Monero (XMR) for transactions.
The market has been operating for five years, and Europol stated that they ultimately closed the website and its suspected operators after “years of in-depth investigations,” including tracking the flow of funds.
According to reports, Archetyp has a user base of over 600,000, with a total trading volume of at least 250 million euros (287 million dollars), listing over 17,000 items, most of which are for the sale of illegal drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, and amphetamines.
Despite increased law enforcement efforts, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs stated in a report on Monday that even if the dark web platform is shut down, “its ecosystem remains highly adaptable,” establishing channels through illegal vendors on applications like Telegram and Signal.
TRM Labs stated: “These peer-to-peer models provide faster turnaround times, lower costs, and a reduced risk of platform shutdowns, thereby increasing the complexity of law enforcement efforts.”
For example, after the closure of the Russian Hydra market in 2022, a new Russian market emerged almost immediately to replace it.
TRM Labs added: “Although some dark web operators, especially those in Western dark web markets, have attempted to rebrand or exit scams after law enforcement actions, comprehensive rebuilds seem to be increasingly rare.”
Source: Cointelegraph
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