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Silk Road (marketplace)
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Silk Road  | | page | Commercial?| Yes | Type of site| Online black market | Registration| Required | Available language(s)| English | Owner| "Dread Pirate Roberts" | Launched| February 2011 | Revenue| 1.2 million US dollars per month [1] | Current status| Active | Silk Road is an online black market operated as a Tor hidden service, such that online anonymity is granted to users. The website launched in February 2011 with development having begun six months prior. [2] [3]
Buyers can register on Silk Road for free, but sellers must purchase new accounts through auctions, a policy that was purportedly implemented to mitigate the possibility of malicious individuals distributing tainted goods. [4] [5]
As of 2012 [update], monthly sales were estimated to be slightly over 1.2 million US dollars (USD), which corresponded to approximately 92,000 USD per month in commissions for the Silk Road operators. [1]
[ edit] ProductsThe majority of products available for purchase on Silk Road qualify as contraband in most jurisdictions. [6] However, the site's operators prohibit the sale of goods and services whose use could harm others; specifically, stolen credit card numbers, counterfeit currency, firearms, personal information, assassinations, weapons of mass destruction, and child pornography are not permitted on the site.[ citation needed]
Most sellers on the site are based in the United Kingdom and the United States, and offer products such as heroin, [7] LSD, and cannabis. [2] [8]
There is a range of legal goods and services for sale, such as art, apparel, books, jewelry, pornography, and writing services.
[ edit] TransactionsBuyers and sellers conduct all transactions with bitcoins (BTC), a crypto-currency that can provide strong anonymity. [9] Most of the BTC prices on Silk Road are pegged to the United States dollar and fluctuate in accordance to the current BTC/USD exchange rate.[ citation needed]
The Silk Road organization claims that, "over 99% of all transactions conducted within the escrow system are completed to the satisfaction of both buyer and seller, or a mutually agreed upon resolution is found." [10] |
