Hold onto your hats, folks! We've got a wild ride through the dark web underworld, where a marketplace called Nemesis raked in a whopping $30 million from selling everything shady, from fentanyl to fake IDs and even hacking services. And guess what? It turns out that Russian-language platforms are the reigning champs, snagging a staggering 97% of these darknet sales!
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is throwing the hammer down on Behrouz Parsarad, the brains behind Nemesis, for turning the darknet into his personal playground of illegal dealings.
OFAC isn't pulling any punches, blacklisting 49 crypto addresses tied to this operation—44 Bitcoin and 5 Monero, to be exact. That's a serious crypto crackdown!
Bradley T. Smith, the Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, had some choice words about Parsarad's ambitions to create a shady sanctuary for producing, selling, and shipping illicit drugs like fentanyl.
The Iranian master of chaos ran the show, managing crypto wallets and collecting a cut from every dirty deal. Authorities say he pocketed millions, even helping crooks launder their dirty money with ease.
Nemesis was the go-to spot for all things illegal on the darknet from 2021 until its dramatic takedown in 2024. It was a haven for drug dealers and cyber criminals alike, offering everything from dangerous drugs to fake IDs and top-notch hacking services. The platform had nifty ways to hide financial transactions, making money laundering a breeze.
Before its fall, Nemesis boasted over 30,000 active users and 1,000 vendors, moving nearly $30 million in drugs worldwide, even hitting home in the United States.
But on March 20, 2024, the law swooped in, with the U.S., Germany, and Lithuania teaming up to shut it down. They seized the site's servers and nabbed around $102,000 in crypto assets.
But wait—there's more! Parsarad isn't backing down. He's allegedly chatting with former vendors about launching a new underground empire to replace Nemesis.
The U.S. Treasury has been busy taking down other shady operations too, like Genesis Market in April 2023 and Hydra in April 2022. Despite these efforts, the darknet marketplace scene is alive and kicking. According to TRM Labs' 2025 Crypto Crime Report, these platforms pulled in over $1.7 billion in revenue in 2024, even more than the year before.
And here's the kicker: Russian-language operations are leading the charge, dominating over 97% of drug sales with Bitcoin and Tron’s TRX. They've increased their hold by more than 1% since 2023, solidifying their stronghold in the illicit online world. Who knew the dark web could be so bustling?
