Gone Without A Trace: Darknet Bitcoin Platform Vanishes In Suspected Scam

Abacus Market, one of the biggest Bitcoin-powered darknet bazaars in the West, has gone offline without warning. According to TRM Labs, its clearnet mirror, website and wallets all vanished at once.

Users first reported trouble withdrawing funds in late June. Then deposits plunged from around $230,000 a day in early June to just $13,000 daily between June 28 and July 10. Now, many think the operators simply grabbed the cash and disappeared.

Market Faces Sudden Shutdown

Based on reports from TRM Labs, Abacus’s admin—known as “Vito”—blamed a surge of new users and a DDoS attack when withdrawals started failing. But users rushed to pull their money anyway.

That deposit drop was a clear sign something was wrong. When a site handles more than $6.3 million in a single month after Archetyp Market’s June 16 closure, it’s bound to draw unwanted eyes.

Vito, the Abacus administrator, reassured users that the withdrawal problems won’t be for long. Source: TRM Labs 

Volume Spike Attracted Attention

According to TRM Labs, Abacus saw its highest monthly sales ever in June. Archetyp’s shutdown sent buyers scrambling, and Abacus’s share of the Bitcoin-supporting Western dark market shot above 70% after the fall of ASAP Market last July and Incognito Market’s seizure in March 2024.

Over four years, the site sold nearly $100 million in Bitcoin. But since much of its trade used Monero—a privacy coin—actual volume may lie between $300 million and $400 million.

Based on user reports, many traders grew nervous when withdrawal hiccups began. Vito’s message didn’t calm fears. Instead, more people pulled their funds out and moved on.

Darknet markets tend to lose users at the first sign of trouble. Once trust is gone, deposits dry up fast. In Abacus’s case, that change was a drop of almost 95% in daily inflows over two weeks.

According to TRM Labs, operators who reach the top often become law enforcement targets. Some admins opt to exit with the money rather than face arrest.

Past examples include Evolution Market’s exit scam and the quietly closed Agora Market. It’s also possible that authorities seized Abacus and are keeping it quiet while they track buyers and sellers. But insiders on the Dread discussion forum cast doubt on that theory for now.

For now, traders and vendors must treat every darknet site as temporary. Based on this latest shutdown, it’s clear that even markets with millions in monthly volume can vanish overnight.

Featured image from The SSL Store, chart from TradingView