📜 Darknet Market History

The darknet marketplace ecosystem began with Silk Road in 2011, founded by Ross Ulbricht (Dread Pirate Roberts). Silk Road pioneered the use of Tor and Bitcoin for anonymous commerce and operated until its FBI seizure in October 2013. Its shutdown demonstrated that while individual markets could be taken down, the concept of decentralized anonymous commerce was resilient. Silk Road 2.0 and dozens of successor markets quickly followed.

After Silk Road, the ecosystem evolved through several generations. AlphaBay (2014-2017) became the largest market before its international law enforcement takedown. Hansa Market was secretly operated by Dutch police as a honeypot. Dream Market, Wall Street Market, and Empire followed. Each generation improved security practices — mandatory PGP, multisig escrow, Monero integration, and anti-phishing measures became standard features.

TorZon Market emerged as one of the leading platforms by combining lessons learned from every previous market failure. Key innovations include robust DDoS protection, mandatory 2FA, integrated link verification to combat phishing, Monero-first payment processing for maximum transaction privacy, and a transparent dispute resolution system. TorZon current position as the largest darknet marketplace reflects years of consistent security and reliable service.