Actors and purchases on the cryptomarket ecosystem: Administrators, vendors, and products

Cryptomarkets are marketplaces on the dark web that facilitate the sale of, mostly illicit, goods and services between vendors and buyers. There were few to no studies that examine the cryptomarket ecosystem using data from multiple cryptomarkets collected at one point in time. This study strives to fill that gap by using eight large and notable cryptomarkets collected from June 2021 to January 2022 to understand the cryptomarket ecosystem, the products available, and identify factors that encourage or discourage actors from engaging in business on cryptomarkets. Eight cryptomarkets and 3,825 unique vendors had an estimated income of $378.5 million annually. Administrators of the largest cryptomarket, White House Market, made $11.3 million annually, showing there is financial incentive to open cryptomarkets. Drug vendors can choose the risk they take based on their experience, their amount of business, if they are a generalist, and the price and quantity of the drug package.