The Nemesis Market, a popular darknet marketplace, was seized by German police on March 20, 2024, as part of an international operation involving German, American, and Lithuanian law enforcement agencies. This marketplace, which had over 150,000 user accounts and 1,100 seller accounts worldwide, was known for selling illegal drugs and narcotics, stolen data and credit cards, and various cybercrime services such as ransomware, phishing, and DDoS attacks.
The operation was conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany (BKA) and the Frankfurt cybercrime combating unit (ZIT), who secured the server infrastructure of the global illegal darknet marketplace “Nemesis Market” located in Germany and Lithuania, effectively closing it down. The seizure resulted in the confiscation of approximately €94,000 ($102,107) in cryptocurrency assets.
The Nemesis Market had been active since 2021 and had recently reached over 150,000 users and over 1,100 seller accounts registered worldwide, with almost 20% of these accounts being from Germany. The platform displayed a seizure banner informing visitors that the site had been taken over by law enforcement.
Investigations into the Nemesis Market began in October 2022 and involved German, Lithuanian, and American agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The data seized in the operation will be used to identify and prosecute platform sellers and users, potentially leading to the uncovering of their identities and organizing arrests.
The German police have been active in targeting darknet marketplaces, having previously seized the ‘Crimemarket’ in early March 2024 and the ‘Kingdom Market’ in December 2023. The largest bust for the German police came in April 2022, when they disrupted the world’s largest darknet market, Hydra, which had 17,000,000 members and 19,000 registered sellers.
One of the most notable features of the Nemesis Market was its support for Monero (XMR) as the primary payment method. This choice was significant because Monero is considered one of the most privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, making it an ideal choice for darknet marketplaces seeking to maintain anonymity for their users
The Nemesis Market was notable for its escrow services and its popularity among darknet users, despite being seen as an “outsider” and viewed with suspicion by some. The seizure of the marketplace was the culmination of Operation Dark Hunt, a coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies to disrupt illegal online trader.