BERLIN: German police said Tuesday they have taken down Russian-language illegal darknet marketplace Hydra, the largest such network in the world, and seized bitcoins worth 23 million euros .
"The Hydra market was probably the illegal marketplace with the highest turnover worldwide" with sales amounting to at least 1.23 billion euros in 2020 alone, it said in a statement. Investigators do not know whether Hydra also has servers in other countries but"assume this was the main hub" of the network's infrastructure, a spokesman for Frankfurt prosecution service's internet crime office ZIT told AFP.
The secret"darknet" includes websites that can be accessed only with specific software or authorisations, ensuring anonymity for users. The marketplace had become particularly popular with users by developing creative delivery methods, the Chainalysis report added.