BlackMarket Reloaded
Who remember the take down of the ‘Silk Road' just a few weeks ago? Did you know that this drug site had a competitor? That competitor was called ‘BlackMarket Reloaded,’ and now this market has gone offline too. This time, though, the Feds weren’t the cause of the site closure.
What happened? Someone leaked bits of the site’s source code, so site administrators shut down the trade route altogether. Who stole the code? Someone on the virtual private hosting admin panel, and that translated into bad news for the site owner who calls himself ‘backopy.’
BlackMarket Reloaded: Tor Was the Way to Go
Just like the Silk Road, BlackMarket Reloaded used Tor in order to hide nicely amidst the Internet roadways. Tor was the only way that people could access the site, but now that’s not possible either. Why does it matter that the source code was stolen? The person that snagged the code posted it on IoBM.net – a site that’s sole purpose is to provide codes like this one for other services rendered.
There were a lot of similarities between Silk Road and BlackMarket Reloaded. Both sites used Tor, took only Bitcoins, and sold drugs. But, if you will, the Silk Road was more ethical. While the Silk Road had a strict “no weapons” policy (so the story goes), BlackMarket Reloaded sold a little bit of everything. The site was notorious for weapons sales, document sales, and other controversial items. But, if you wanted to get something that you couldn’t buy on the Silk Road, BlackMarket Reloaded was the way to go. What now?
BlackMarket Reloaded: More To Come
The founders of BlackMarket Reloaded have put out a notice to users stating that the site may be relaunched in a few months. But, I’m kind of skeptical. You could look at it like this: those behind BlackMarket Reloaded got scared off after the Silk Road shakedown, and that lead them to close up shop. Why taunt the FBI when you can simply slither away?
To be fair, though, BlackMarket Reloaded has told all users that it will be possible to collect all stored Bitcoins soon, so nobody really loses any money. Speaking of money – do you know how much the BlackMarket Reloaded made? I’m going to guess in the high millions with more than 18,000 users. That’s a scary stat if you think about what this site was selling. 18,000 people buying documents, guns, and illegal drugs. Yeah, that will keep you up at night.
BlackMarket Reloaded: Is This The End?
If you spend some time using Tor, you may come up with some more questionable sites. However, the biggest site of them all was the Silk Road, and nobody thought that site would be busted. So, it’s unlikely that others have enough nerve to stand up to the FBI, but you never know. Another site could come along any day now – there’s certainly a market for it!
What do you think about these sites? Let me know below!
