Do police crackdowns disrupt drug cryptomarkets? A longitudinal analysis of the effects of Operation Onymous

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of online illicit markets where participants can purchase and sell a wide range of goods and services such as drugs, hacking services, and stolen financial information. Secondgeneration markets, known as cryptomarkets, provide a pseudo-anonymous platform from which to operate and have attracted the attention of researchers, regulators, and law enforcement. This paper focuses on the impact of police crackdowns on cryptomarkets, and more particularly on the impact of Operation Onymous, a large-scale police operation in November 2014 that targeted many cryptomarkets. Our results demonstrate that cryptomarket participants adapt to police operations and that the impact of Operation Onymous was limited in time and scope. Of particular interest is the finding that prices did not increase following Operation Onymous, even though many dealers retired shortly after it occurred.

The economic functioning of online drugs markets

“…See also the recent analysis for the Silk Road 2.0 shutdown under Operation Onymous that reaches the same conclusion by Decary-Hutu and Giommoni (2016).…”

Seller’s reputation and capacity on the illicit drug markets: 11-month study on the Finnish version of the Silk Road

“…Indeed, the Silkkitie case simply demonstrates again how difficult it is to control and prevent sales in cryptomarkets. Although law enforcement could successfully capture some of the key actors involved, the markets are quickly reestablished (Décary-Hétu and Giommoni, 2017).…”

“…Despite this, different police operations have targeted sites and have at least been partially successful in reducing the activity in cryptomarkets (Décary-Hétu and Giommoni, 2017). Also, the identity of the original Silk Road developer, Ross William Ulbrich, was discovered after the FBI followed his behaviour pattern and gathered cumulative critical information for long enough (FBI, 2014).…”

“…Many of the studies have been based on the Silk Road (e.g., Alridge and Décary-Hétu, 2016; Barratt and Maddox, 2016) and their successors, such as the Silk Road 2.0, Agora, Alphabay and Valhalla (e.g., Van Buskirk et al, 2016;Décary-Hétu and Giommoni, 2017;Demant et al, 2016;Dolliver and Kuhns, 2016;Van Hout and Hearne, 2017). Studies have employed more traditional research methods such as surveys and interviews (Barratt et al, 2014;Van Hout & Bingham 2013a, b) and newer approaches employing web crawlers (Alridge and Décary-Hétu, 2016;Demant et al, 2016;Dolliver, 2015;Aldridge, 2016;Christin, 2013;Hardy and Norgaard, 2015;.…”

Behind the curtain: The illicit trade of firearms, explosives and ammunition on the dark web

“…204 Users flocked to other cryptomarkets after the SR1 'displacement' event. 'Black Market Reloaded' (BMR) was the largest and experienced a twofold increase in the number of dealers in a six-week period.…”