German police confiscated Hydra servers and seized 543 BTC

The German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) seized Hydra darknet marketplace’s servers.

As part of the international operation, 543 BTC, worth around €23 million, were also seized.

The investigation targets previously unknown operators and administrators of Hydra. They are suspected of commercially exploiting criminal online marketplaces, enabling illicit purchase and sale of drugs, and money laundering.

The inquiry has been conducted since August 2021 with the involvement of U.S. authorities.

According to the BKA, Hydra had around 17 million customers and more than 19,000 sellers among its users.

In 2020, Hydra accounted for 75% of all darknet revenue — at least €1.23 billion. The platform ranked among the top-10 venues by cryptocurrency turnover, surpassing Kraken, OKX and Poloniex.

U.S. authorities suspect that Hydra’s funds were laundered in part via the cryptocurrency exchange Suex and the Telegram bot Chatex.

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