The alleged administrator of Bitcoin Fog kept the dark web service running for 10 years before the IRS swept up with him.For ten years, Bitcoin Fog has agreed to obscure the foundation and destination of its customers'cryptocurrency, which makes it one of the most venerable institutions in the dark web economy.
Now the IRS says it's finally identified the Russian-Swedish administrator behind that long-running anonymizing system and charged him with laundering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins, much of which was delivered to or from dark web drug markets. What gave him away?
The trail of their own decade-old digital transactions.
Feds Dismantled the Dark Web Drug Trade—but It's Already Rebuilding
After recent high-profile dark-web drug market takedowns, new vendors already are filling the void.On the dark-web drug
dark0de Market WorldMarket this week, business proceeds as usual. "Satisfied customer, will soon be back," writes one user on the product page of a meth dealer with the handle shardyshardface.
"Excellent," reads a plaudit posted by way of a buyer of the opiate oxycodone. "Bravo," says another for a $5 sample of fentanyl, certainly one of 18 reviews posted on the product's profile page within the last few week. In most, Empire lists over 18,000 narcotic offerings, including hundreds for oxycodone alone.