US authorities seized 145 domains and an undisclosed quantity of cryptocurrency tied to BidenCash, a darkish net market accused of trafficking thousands and thousands of stolen bank cards and private knowledge.
The motion, introduced on June 5 by the US Lawyer’s Workplace for the Japanese District of Virginia, adopted a court-authorized operation focusing on the platform’s infrastructure and monetary flows. The seized domains at the moment are redirected to a legislation enforcement-controlled server.
BidenCash, launched in March 2022, had grown to over 117,000 customers and facilitated the sale of greater than 15 million stolen cost card numbers and different personally identifiable data. The platform generated over $17 million in income throughout its operation, in keeping with US officers.
The darkish net market additionally bought compromised login credentials for unauthorized laptop entry. Between October 2022 and February 2023, it launched 3.3 million stolen bank card data free of charge, a tactic used to advertise its providers amongst cybercriminals and entice new customers.
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US wins court docket approval to grab crypto
The US additionally secured court docket authorization to grab cryptocurrency funds linked to BidenCash’s unlawful actions, although officers didn’t disclose the quantity of crypto recovered.
The case was led by the US Secret Service’s Frankfurt Resident Workplace, the company’s Cyber Investigative Part, and the FBI’s Albuquerque Area Workplace. The investigation is a part of a broader US effort to focus on crypto-enabled legal networks working on the darkish net.
BidenCash’s seizure provides to a rising listing of enforcement actions. In Might, Operation RapTor dismantled a number of darkish net drug trafficking platforms, leading to 270 arrests throughout 10 international locations and the seizure of $200 million in belongings, together with massive quantities of cryptocurrency.
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US sanctions crypto addresses linked to Nemesis darknet
In March, US authorities sanctioned the operator of now-defunct on-line darknet market Nemesis, which was used to facilitate the sale of medication, false identification paperwork, skilled hacking assets and a wide range of different illicit providers for cybercriminals.
The sanctioned property included 44 Bitcoin (BTC) addresses and 5 Monero (XMR) addresses, which, between July 2022 and March 2024, acquired greater than $850,000.
In 2024, darknet marketplaces generated over $1.7 billion in income, a slight enhance from the earlier 12 months, in keeping with blockchain intelligence agency TRM Labs’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report.
The report famous that Russian-language darknet markets continued to dominate the ecosystem, primarily on account of Russian authorities’ “low danger of enforcement motion.”
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