Empire Market
Exit ScamThe largest exit scam in darknet market history. Operators disappeared with an estimated $30M in user funds after 3 years of operation. ~72-hour DDoS preceded the exit.
Exit Scams
Darknet markets that performed exit scams — operators who disappeared with user funds. Empire Market stole an estimated $30–90M in 2020.
7 markets documented
Wall Street Market
Exit Scam + Operator ArrestedExit scam followed immediately by operator arrests. The moderators began slowly draining funds while European police were already closing in. All three operators were arrested in Germany.
Nightmare Market
Operator Shutdown / Suspected ExitOne of the largest markets following Dream Market's closure in 2019. Announced shutdown in August 2019 citing sustained DoS attacks, but the abrupt closure with no user fund recovery led most analysts to classify it as an exit scam.
Monopoly Market
Exit Scam / Operator ArrestedA Monero-only market that vanished in early 2023 without warning. The suspected operator, Milomir Desnica, was arrested in Austria in November 2023 on US drug trafficking charges.
Evolution Market
Exit ScamOne of the earliest large-scale darknet market exit scams. Operators Verto and Kimble disappeared in March 2015 with an estimated $12M in Bitcoin held in user escrow accounts.
Berlusconi Market
Exit Scam / Operator ArrestedA European darknet market with Italian operators. Disappeared in late 2019 in what is believed to be an exit scam, followed by the arrest of associated administrators by Italian authorities.
Yellow Brick Market
Exit ScamA short-lived darknet market that disappeared in 2021 with user funds. The operators vanished without announcement, leaving buyers and vendors unable to recover escrowed balances.