Largest Russian Darknet Marketplace Seeking $146 Million via ICO
- The people behind Hydra are selling stakes of a new platform.

Hydra, Russia’s largest darknet marketplace, is seeking to raise $146 million via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Accompanying most major ICOs has been the prevalence of a whitepaper. A whitepaper serves as both a persuasive sales pitch, and in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. Most marketers relied on whitepapers to educate their respective audience about a particular issue, or explain and promote a particular methodology that an ICO could potentially solve. The information enclosed in whitepapers have historically been met with skepticism.Why ICOs Have Fallen Out of FavorThis is due in large part to the early days of ICOs, as this practice was highly unregulated and extremely risky. Because there were no regulations delineating who could and could not hold an ICO, many bad actors or incompetent technologists saw the practice as an opportunity to grab a lot of fast cash.As a result, many investors have lost quite a lot of money – their tokens were either never returned to them, or the companies who issued the tokens failed within several months of the token’s official launch.Regulators around the world have cracked down on the practice, which has resulted in a slightly “cleaner” ICO space.However, ICOs have garnered a pretty bad reputation and are still regarded as generally untrustworthy. As such, other methods of fundraising, such as Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs) have been born. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Accompanying most major ICOs has been the prevalence of a whitepaper. A whitepaper serves as both a persuasive sales pitch, and in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. Most marketers relied on whitepapers to educate their respective audience about a particular issue, or explain and promote a particular methodology that an ICO could potentially solve. The information enclosed in whitepapers have historically been met with skepticism.Why ICOs Have Fallen Out of FavorThis is due in large part to the early days of ICOs, as this practice was highly unregulated and extremely risky. Because there were no regulations delineating who could and could not hold an ICO, many bad actors or incompetent technologists saw the practice as an opportunity to grab a lot of fast cash.As a result, many investors have lost quite a lot of money – their tokens were either never returned to them, or the companies who issued the tokens failed within several months of the token’s official launch.Regulators around the world have cracked down on the practice, which has resulted in a slightly “cleaner” ICO space.However, ICOs have garnered a pretty bad reputation and are still regarded as generally untrustworthy. As such, other methods of fundraising, such as Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs) have been born. Read this Term), proceeds from which will be utilized for the global expansion of the platform.
According to the investment memorandum on the website, the token sale will initiate on December 16 and can only be accessed using the Tor browser, the gateway to the darknet websites.
Hydra is a marketplace on the dark web, providing anonymous services to its users. People can opt for illicit substances, hacking services, forged documents, stolen data, and cash on the platform. Everything is arranged in such a way that neither buyer, seller, or courier services cross paths while making transactions.
“It will start a new era in the West. The scale of expansion is hard to imagine,” the memorandum stated.
A lot of activity on an illicit marketplace
The platform claims that it has a user base of 3 million, processing 100,000 transactions daily.
The promoters of the platform have produced each digital token at $100 apiece, which can be bought against Bitcoin. Investors need to buy a bundle of 100 tokens, which will give them conferring rights to 0.003 percent share of the company and generated profits.
The people behind the illicit platform are also planning to launch a new platform called Eternos, a worldwide darknet marketplace combined with an encrypted messenger, a crypto exchange, a Tor-like anonymous browser, AI-based dispute resolution, and an over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace.
“No KYC, everything will be anonymous and on the highest level. We’re no TON,” the announcement explained the new service.
In total, 1,470,000 tokens will be issued, representing 49 percent of the new project. Hydra is also assuring $500 monthly dividends in bitcoin for each token to investors buying more than 100 tokens.
Russian news outlet Forklog, however, warned that, without the supervision of any authority, this might be an exit scam.
Hydra, Russia’s largest darknet marketplace, is seeking to raise $146 million via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Accompanying most major ICOs has been the prevalence of a whitepaper. A whitepaper serves as both a persuasive sales pitch, and in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. Most marketers relied on whitepapers to educate their respective audience about a particular issue, or explain and promote a particular methodology that an ICO could potentially solve. The information enclosed in whitepapers have historically been met with skepticism.Why ICOs Have Fallen Out of FavorThis is due in large part to the early days of ICOs, as this practice was highly unregulated and extremely risky. Because there were no regulations delineating who could and could not hold an ICO, many bad actors or incompetent technologists saw the practice as an opportunity to grab a lot of fast cash.As a result, many investors have lost quite a lot of money – their tokens were either never returned to them, or the companies who issued the tokens failed within several months of the token’s official launch.Regulators around the world have cracked down on the practice, which has resulted in a slightly “cleaner” ICO space.However, ICOs have garnered a pretty bad reputation and are still regarded as generally untrustworthy. As such, other methods of fundraising, such as Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs) have been born. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Accompanying most major ICOs has been the prevalence of a whitepaper. A whitepaper serves as both a persuasive sales pitch, and in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. Most marketers relied on whitepapers to educate their respective audience about a particular issue, or explain and promote a particular methodology that an ICO could potentially solve. The information enclosed in whitepapers have historically been met with skepticism.Why ICOs Have Fallen Out of FavorThis is due in large part to the early days of ICOs, as this practice was highly unregulated and extremely risky. Because there were no regulations delineating who could and could not hold an ICO, many bad actors or incompetent technologists saw the practice as an opportunity to grab a lot of fast cash.As a result, many investors have lost quite a lot of money – their tokens were either never returned to them, or the companies who issued the tokens failed within several months of the token’s official launch.Regulators around the world have cracked down on the practice, which has resulted in a slightly “cleaner” ICO space.However, ICOs have garnered a pretty bad reputation and are still regarded as generally untrustworthy. As such, other methods of fundraising, such as Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs) have been born. Read this Term), proceeds from which will be utilized for the global expansion of the platform.
According to the investment memorandum on the website, the token sale will initiate on December 16 and can only be accessed using the Tor browser, the gateway to the darknet websites.
Hydra is a marketplace on the dark web, providing anonymous services to its users. People can opt for illicit substances, hacking services, forged documents, stolen data, and cash on the platform. Everything is arranged in such a way that neither buyer, seller, or courier services cross paths while making transactions.
“It will start a new era in the West. The scale of expansion is hard to imagine,” the memorandum stated.
A lot of activity on an illicit marketplace
The platform claims that it has a user base of 3 million, processing 100,000 transactions daily.
The promoters of the platform have produced each digital token at $100 apiece, which can be bought against Bitcoin. Investors need to buy a bundle of 100 tokens, which will give them conferring rights to 0.003 percent share of the company and generated profits.
The people behind the illicit platform are also planning to launch a new platform called Eternos, a worldwide darknet marketplace combined with an encrypted messenger, a crypto exchange, a Tor-like anonymous browser, AI-based dispute resolution, and an over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace.
“No KYC, everything will be anonymous and on the highest level. We’re no TON,” the announcement explained the new service.
In total, 1,470,000 tokens will be issued, representing 49 percent of the new project. Hydra is also assuring $500 monthly dividends in bitcoin for each token to investors buying more than 100 tokens.
Russian news outlet Forklog, however, warned that, without the supervision of any authority, this might be an exit scam.