Founder of Russia based Hydra market sentenced to life in prison
A Russian court sentenced Stanislav Moiseev, the creator of the online black market and cryptocurrency mixing service Hydra, to life in prison. During its operation, Hydra received over $5 billion in cryptocurrency.
In 2023, darknet marketplaces made at least $1.7 billion, which is more than they made in 2022 when Hydra was shut down, according to a Chainalysis report released earlier this year.
Hydra market founder and accomplices sentenced to jail
A Moscow Regional Court found Moiseev and fifteen (15) accomplices guilty of organizing a criminal community and illegally producing and selling psychotropic substances and drugs, according to a December 2 statement from the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office.
Moiseev's accomplices received sentences ranging from eight to twenty-three years. In addition, Moiseev received a fine of $38,100 (4 million rubles), and his accomplices were ordered to pay $152,400 in total. The sentencing orders also included the seizure of vehicles and properties.
Convicted individuals will be housed in correctional colonies under "strict regimes," according to TASS, a state-owned media outlet in Russia. Alexander Chirkov, Andrei Trunov, Evgeny Andreev, Ivan Koryakin, Vadim Krasninsky, Georgy Kierobiani, Artur Kolesnikov, Nikolai Bilyk, Alekandr Kabalina, Mikhail Dombrovkogo, Alexander Aminova, and Sergey Czech were among the other Hydra members who received sentences. Appeals of the sentences are possible.
World's largest darknet marketplace
Since 2016, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has been looking into Hydra. According to the US Justice Department, Hydra was the largest darknet marketplace in the world at one point, making up 80% of all darknet-related cryptocurrency transactions in 2021 and earning over $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency between its 2015 launch and its 2022 takedown. It was well-known for selling forged identity documents, counterfeit money, and credit card information that had been stolen.
Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami stated in a press release on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, "The destruction of the Hydra Market, the largest provider of illegal goods and services on the dark web, sends a message to these electronic criminal kingpins that believe they can operate with impunity."
In May 2021, blockchain security firm Flashpoint reported that as Hydra's criminal operations became more sophisticated, its cryptocurrency volumes on exchanges increased 624% year-over-year between 2018 and 2020. In April 2022, it was shut down by German authorities, who also seized its Bitcoin and servers located there. According to their report, the service boasted 19,000 vendor accounts and 17 million customers. Nearly a ton of drugs and psychotropic substances were also seized by German police.
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