{"id":43209,"date":"2021-05-26T12:37:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T09:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=43209"},"modified":"2025-08-31T02:37:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T23:37:34","slug":"report-hydra-vendors-forced-to-cash-out-cryptocurrency-in-rubles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/report-hydra-vendors-forced-to-cash-out-cryptocurrency-in-rubles\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Hydra vendors forced to cash out cryptocurrency in rubles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chainalysis and Flashpoint specialists analyzed the operation of the Hydra darknet marketplace. According to the study, vendors are forced to convert cryptocurrency into rubles to cash out.<\/p>\n

Initially, Hydra was best known primarily as a marketplace for selling drugs. However, today cybercriminals use it for a wide range of operations, including the sale of stolen data and money laundering, according to experts.<\/p>\n

Experts note that Hydra’s popularity grows year by year \u2014 transaction volume rose from nearly $9.4 million in 2016 to $1.37 billion by the end of 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Report:
Data: Chainalysis and Flashpoint report.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Primarily, Hydra conducts transactions through cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of them are classified by Chainalysis as high-risk \u2014 with weak KYC procedures or their absence.<\/p>\n

However, for some exchanges that interact with the marketplace, the transactions relate to legitimate activity, according to analysts.<\/p>\n

\"Report:<\/figure>\n
\n

\u201cMoreover, the overwhelming majority of funds from Hydra are sent to accounts and services that primarily serve clients located in Russia,\u201d the report notes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Report:<\/figure>\n

According to specialists, since July 2018 Hydra introduced strict restrictions for marketplace sellers. They were allowed to withdraw digital currencies only through certain payment services and e-wallets, converting them into rubles.<\/p>\n

Also, to withdraw funds, sellers must perform more than 50 transactions on Hydra, and their wallets must hold funds equivalent to $10 000.<\/p>\n

Because of these restrictions, criminals began selling compromised accounts of \u201capproved\u201d sellers.<\/p>\n

Another popular method of cashing out cryptocurrency became the storerooms<\/a> system.<\/p>\n

Experts note that opaque transactions and forced conversion to fiat through regional payment systems complicate the fight against cybercrime.<\/p>\n

Primarily, Hydra serves the countries of the former Soviet Union, the study notes. The marketplace planned to scale its operations globally, but later the operators postponed the plans.<\/p>\n

As of 2021, this had still not materialized, according to specialists.<\/p>\n

In late 2019, Hydra announced plans to launch a transnational decentralized marketplace for the sale of prohibited goods. To fund the project the marketplace planned to conduct an ICO.<\/p>\n

Read ForkLog Bitcoin news on our Telegram \u2014 cryptocurrency news, rates and analysis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chainalysis and Flashpoint specialists analyzed the Hydra darknet marketplace. According to the study, sellers are forced to convert cryptocurrency into rubles to cash out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[274,477,1720,167],"class_list":["post-43209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-chainalysis","tag-darknet","tag-hydra","tag-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"17","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43211,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43209\/revisions\/43211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}