AlphaBay

Seized by Europol/FBI

Active 2014–2017

Operator

Alexandre Cazes (Alpha02)

Closed

July 5, 2017

Seized / Lost

~$8.8M in crypto

Volume

$600K–$800K/day at peak

What Happened

AlphaBay grew to 10x the size of Silk Road at its peak, with over 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors. Cazes made critical OPSEC errors: his personal email ([email protected]) appeared in AlphaBay welcome emails in 2015. Law enforcement tracked this to his real identity. Cazes was arrested in Thailand in a joint operation between the DEA, FBI, and Thai police. He was found dead in his cell on July 12, 2017, in an apparent suicide. AlphaBay relaunched under new management in August 2021.

Key Lessons

Never use personal email addresses in site infrastructure
Welcome/registration emails are permanent forensic evidence
Cross-border arrests are fully operational

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