A decapitated hydra. The cryptocurrency sector is regularly associated with illegal activities. However, the latter represent a tiny part of the use of these tokens. However, some cases make headlines. This is particularly the case of the Hydra platform, presented as the largest black market on the darknet. An activity definitively closed in 2022 by the German authorities. But it is Russian justice which has just sentenced its founder Stanislav Moiseev to life imprisonment.
- The Hydra black market, once the largest on the darknet, was shut down by German authorities in 2022.
- The founder of Hydra, Stanislav Moiseev, was sentenced to life in prison by Russian justice.
Black Market Hydra Decapitated
The Hydra platform has long been considered the largest black market on the darknet. This before doing permanently closed by the German authoritiesin April 2022.
An illicit marketplace which had its heyday between 2015 and 2021. Because at that time it represented 80% of all crypto transactions associated with the darknet. With an estimated turnover of $5.2 billion over this period.
Needless to say, she was a real digital wound for the authorities responsible for combating cybercrime. Even more so in the field of stolen credit card dataof the fake currencies and other counterfeit identity documents.
This is the reason why its dismantling was accompanied by the seizure of nearly a ton of drugs and psychotropic substances. And, of course, the arrest of its main leaders.
Founder Stanislav Moiseev sentenced to life in prison
A case which has just reached a legal outcome, following the conviction of the founder of HydraStanislav Moiseev. The latter found guilty by a Moscow regional court of having organized “a criminal community and illegally produced psychotropic substances and medicines. »
A verdict which has just fallen, with a sentence of life imprisonment for this main responsible. But also penalties ranging from 8 to 23 years in prison for his 15 accomplices. The latter will also have to pay fines whose total amount barely reaches 200 000 $.
All these sentences will be carried out in penal colonies under “strict regimes.” » And the vehicles and properties of the convicts were also seized.
The Ghost of Silk Road
The darknet is a digital lawless zone whose illicit activities are very widely associated with cryptocurrencies. This is why the authorities are trying to fight against these abuses. As for example in India, where a recent partnership with the company TRM Labs made it possible to put an end to international drug trafficking.
Furthermore, the case of Stanislav Moiseev is reminiscent of that of Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Roadanother iconic darknet platform. Also sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015, Ulbricht nevertheless benefited from massive support for his release, embodied by a global petition and public calls for clemency.
The case even caught the attention of former (and new) President Donald Trump, who suggested during his campaign that he might consider a presidential pardon for Ulbricht. If Moiseev will have to serve his sentence in a penal colony, Ulbricht remains a figure of debate on the severity of sentences in the face of technological innovation and anonymity on the internet
