Darknet markets consist of websites, which are in many ways similar to other online platforms that facilitate trade, such as eBay or Amazon. The key difference is the anonymity afforded by accessing darknet markets. Access to such markets can be achieved in a number of ways. Commonly, there are surface websites that provide listings of ‘.onion’ addresses for darknet markets, thus enabling ready access; there are also mirror sites on the surface web that provide hyperlinks to corresponding hidden sites; and there are ‘invitation-only’ markets where users need to be referred by a current user. Among the technologies used to achieve this are anonymisation services, encrypted communication services and cryptocurrencies, each one of which mitigates the risk of detection of the buyers and sellers and presents its own particular challenges to investigators.

The earliest modern online anonymous markets, often referred to as darknet markets or cryptomarkets, appeared in early 2010, and evolved from an encrypted email service and migrated on to a Tor (The Onion Router) anonymity network to guarantee better anonymity to users. The first darknet market of notoriety was Silk Road, which opened at the end of January 2011 and was seized by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in October 2013 (DEA, 2013). Silk Road 2.0 was launched soon after the original Silk Road was seized and since that time there has been a proliferation of darknet markets..