A Moscow court ordered the seizure of Dmitry Pavlov’s cryptocurrency wallet, accused of administering the darknet marketplace Hydra.<\/p>\n
According to \u00ab\u042a\u00bb<\/a>, all of Pavlov’s phones and computers were seized, and he himself is cooperating with investigators. However, the suspect refused to disclose the password to the cryptocurrency wallet.<\/p>\n According to the Telegram channel Mash<\/a>, investigators believe the wallet may hold hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin.<\/p>\n Hydra is one of the world’s largest darknet marketplaces. According to U.S. authorities<\/a>, from January 2016 through March 2022 cryptocurrencies worth more than $5 billion were sent to wallets controlled by the platform. Last year it accounted for about 80% of all cryptocurrency transactions tied to the darknet.<\/p>\n In April, German police confiscated the platform’s servers and seized 543 BTC<\/a>, and the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Hydra<\/a>.<\/p>\n The American court charged Dmitry Pavlov<\/a> with administering the darknet marketplace, providing hosting services for it, conspiring to launder money, and distributing drugs.<\/p>\n On April 11, the Meshchansky District Court in Moscow arrested<\/a> Pavlov. In Russia, he was detained on another charge \u2014 drug trafficking in a particularly large quantity.<\/p>\n