Well, I'd have to admit that it's hard to find a darknet marketplace that's legitimate and able to survive for a long time. I'm surprised to know that a marketplace like "Hydra" is still alive after a long time since inception. Still though, I'm quite skeptical about it since it comes from Russia. I know that most hackers come from there, so it'll be somewhat risky to send my hard-earned Bitcoin to a marketplace that's based on Russia.

I'd be surprised to see recognized companies like eBay or Amazon launching an alternative version on the darknet that would accept Bitcoin or privacy-oriented coins like Monero or Grin. This seems more like a dream than anything else, considering that the darknet has a lot of bad reputation. But in crypto land, anything could happen. If there's demand from people in the mainstream world into marketplaces which rely on alternative networks, then we'll be able to see more legitimate services over time. Otherwise, marketplaces using the clearnet (public Internet) will still be the norm of e-commerce.

All in all, thanks for the links. I'll be sure to check into them for more info related to marketplaces on the darknet.



That's certainly true, mate. Most (if not all) darknet marketplaces are a complete scam. It's hard to find a legitimate marketplace that would make use of the darknet today. I would use OpenBazaar, but it's not anonymous by the protocol level. It still accepts Zcash for privacy, but it's not as good as Monero or Grin (most people claim that ZEC has a backdoor which defeats privacy). To find a trusted merchant on OpenBazaar is like finding a "needle in a haystack".