A surge of activity on Abacus occurred in mid-June, coinciding with Europol's operation against Archetyp Market, one of the oldest darknet marketplaces. Data from TRM Labs indicate that Abacus was among the top three bitcoin-enabled darknet marketplaces by transaction volume. Abacus Market, once the dominant darknet marketplace operating in the Western world, has gone offline under suspicious circumstances, leading to widespread speculation of a coordinated exit scam. Europol shuttered one of the longest-running dark web marketplaces, Archetyp Market, on June 16, causing its users to flood Abacus, leading to its largest-ever monthly sales volume of $6.3 million in June. Abacus Market, the largest Bitcoin-powered Western darknet marketplace, has gone offline in an apparent exit scam. A significant surge in activity on Abacus occurred in mid-June, following Europol's operation against Archetyp Market, one of the oldest darknet marketplaces.
At publishing time there is no indication that Abacus has been taken down by law enforcement but this scenario is not to be ruled out yet. In the days that followed, Abacus Market’s entire online infrastructure, including its clearnet mirror, went offline without a seizure banner or any indication that law enforcement was involved. This figure dropped quickly in early July, to just $13,000 a day across 100 deposits, as user trust was quickly affected by withdrawal delays. TRM Labs reports that the market had enabled transactions of nearly $100 million worth of Bitcoin but the figure does not include Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency, which requires special conditions to track and accounts for at least two-thirds of all transactions on Abacus. Historically, there have been “silent” takedowns that weren’t accompanied by announcements from the authorities, to allow investigations to continue unobstructed and gather more incriminating evidence or identify accomplices. Many are suspecting law enforcement to be involved but if any law enforcement was to be involved hot wallets would not be changed and a seizure banner would be up.
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Abacus Market — once the largest Bitcoin-enabled Western darknet marketplace — went offline in early July 2025. 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. Such companies’ tools enable investigators to trace administrator wallets and follow illicit flows even after a marketplace goes offline. 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. Furthermore, following Archetyp’s law enforcement seizure in June, 2025, many of its users flooded Abacus Market, leading to the latter’s largest ever monthly sales volume of USD 6.3 million in June 2025. The site’s operators charged fees on every transaction and even offered 3.3 million cards for free to lure in new users.
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The administrators say that the platform was created from scratch with a focus on user safety. Abacus Darknet Market has allegedly exit scammed, we have read news of Abacus exit scamming from various sources and all confirm that communication with Admin and Moderators has ceased, hot wallets have been changed and hundreds of thousands have been lost. In late June 2025, Abacus users reported withdrawal issues and decreasing trust in the platform. TRM Labs assesses the event was likely an exit scam, though a covert law enforcement seizure cannot be ruled out.
- Factoring in Monero, researchers suggest that total sales could have been closer to at least $300 million.
- Abacus commanded around 70% of the market share across all Bitcoin-enabled Western darknet marketplaces in 2024.
- Haystak also offers a premium version that allows advanced search, access to historical content, and email alerts.
- Unlike Archetyp or DrugHub which enforce Monero-only policies, Abacus supports both BTC and XMR, accommodating all users.
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Some in the underground forums were fooled by fake posts from a released admin, a likely law enforcement ruse to sow confusion. According to Europol, the operation froze about €7.8 million in assets. Archetyp was Europe’s longest running and bloodiest market in the 2020s. Experts expect the vacuum to be filled by smaller rings, but warned that Hydra’s end proves no market, however entrenched, is untouchable. Millions in crypto were recovered, and top Russian vendors and buyers were exposed to investigators.
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Marketplaces that reach the top of the ecosystem, in terms of volume, user base, listings, and reputation, often become priority targets for law enforcement. Dread’s administrator, Hugbunter — who was in close contact with the Abacus team — believes Abacus’s disappearance was not the result of a law enforcement action. This signals a growing preference among darknet operators for obfuscation and anti-surveillance tools.
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TRM Labs speculates the Abacus operators could have also “lost motivation to continue” or chose to exit the ecosystem to “preserve their freedom and financial gains.” “Marketplaces that reach the top of the ecosystem, in terms of volume, user base, listings, and reputation, often become priority targets for law enforcement,” TRM Labs said. Its share of the Bitcoin-supporting Western dark market ecosystem also spiked to over 70%, following ASAP’s closure and the law enforcement seizure of Incognito Market in March 2024. Another theory is that administrators may have voluntarily left the market due to increased regulatory scrutiny. TRM Labs analysts suggested that law enforcement agencies might be conducting a covert operation to gather evidence.
Notice: This Darknet Market Appears To Be Offline
The vacuum left by Abacus’s exit is expected to cause significant reshuffling in the darknet landscape, as displaced users seek out alternative platforms. Blockchain analytics companies including TRM Labs have characterized the shutdown as a likely exit scam—where marketplace operators abruptly shut down the platform and abscond with escrowed customer funds. The disappearance has led TRM to believe the “operators have likely conducted an exit scam, shutting down operations and disappearing with users’ funds.” Abacus Market, a prominent darknet marketplace, has suddenly ceased operations, leaving users in a state of uncertainty. Discover everything about what a darknet market is, top marketplaces, security threats on them, and learn how to protect your data online.
Darknet marketplaces are facing increased scrutiny from coordinated global enforcement. In 2024, Abacus accounted for 70% of Western darknet platforms accepting Bitcoin. According to analysts at TRM Labs, after users complained about payment delays, the site's administrators ceased communicating with them. As these platforms grow in size and profitability, they attract increased law enforcement scrutiny and internal risks. The collapse of Abacus follows a familiar pattern in the lifespan of darknet markets. Covert law enforcement operations have in the past quietly seized control of darknet infrastructure without initially disclosing involvement, although such actions typically become public within weeks.
“In some cases, such as Nemesis Market’s exit, official seizure notices have appeared months after a DNM darknet market has gone offline,” TRM Labs added. In late June, users began reporting withdrawal issues, which prompted the Abacus administrator known by the handle “Vito” to assure users that the problems were merely a result of an influx of new people and a distributed denial-of-service attack. Users who engage in these marketplaces do so at their own risk, with little to no protection for their funds or personal information.
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While an exit scam is the primary suspicion, other explanations have been proposed. Many users migrated to Abacus, causing the site’s monthly sales volume to jump to $6.3 million. One of the well-known markets that offers a private, secure area for you to purchase the greatest goods from around the globe is Abacus. This extra privacy makes it much harder for authorities to track down who runs these markets and where they are located. It contains 40,000+ listings for illegal products (mostly) and is worth an estimated $15 million, so it’s one of the largest markets out there. Participate responsibly and help maintain Abacus’s reputation as the most reliable marketplace since the days of Dream Market and White House Market.
