Silk Road online black market Actions Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silk-Road-marketplace Ask the Chatbot a Question Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Nov 20, 2024 • Article History Contents Ask the Chatbot a Question

　　Listing on Silk Road advertising speed, a type of amphetamine The Silk Road marketplace was online between 2011 and 2013, when it was shut down for promoting illicit activities. (more) { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " What was Silk Road? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Silk Road was the first modern darknet market, known for providing a platform to buy and sell illegal drugs and promoting other illicit activities. The site was accessible through the anonymous Tor network and used Bitcoin for transactions." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " Who founded Silk Road and when? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Silk Road was founded by Ross Ulbricht in February 2011." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " How much money did Silk Road generate? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Some estimates suggest that Silk Road generated up to $1.2 billion in sales and $80 million in commissions, though more conservative estimates are $183 million in sales and $13 million in commissions." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " When was Ross Ulbricht arrested and what was he charged with? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Ross Ulbricht was arrested on October 2, 2013, and charged with crimes including engaging in a criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics online, computer hacking, and money laundering." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : " What happened to Silk Road after Ulbrichtu2019s arrest? ", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "After Ulbrichtu2019s arrest, Silk Road was shut down, and the FBI seized 26,000 Bitcoin from users. Copycat sites such as Silk Road 2.0 and 3.0 emerged but were also shut down." } } ] } Top Questions What was Silk Road? Silk Road was the first modern darknet market, known for providing a platform to buy and sell illegal drugs and promoting other illicit activities. The site was accessible through the anonymous Tor network and used Bitcoin for transactions.

　　Who founded Silk Road and when? Silk Road was founded by Ross Ulbricht in February 2011.

　　How much money did Silk Road generate? Some estimates suggest that Silk Road generated up to $1.2 billion in sales and $80 million in commissions, though more conservative estimates are $183 million in sales and $13 million in commissions.

　　When was Ross Ulbricht arrested and what was he charged with? Ross Ulbricht was arrested on October 2, 2013, and charged with crimes including engaging in a criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics online, computer hacking, and money laundering.

　　What happened to Silk Road after Ulbricht’s arrest? After Ulbricht’s arrest, Silk Road was shut down, and the FBI seized 26,000 Bitcoin from users. Copycat sites such as Silk Road 2.0 and 3.0 emerged but were also shut down.

　　Silk Road, online black market known for providing a platform to buy and sell illegal drugs and for hosting other illicit activities. The site was founded by Ross Ulbricht in February 2011 and eventually shut down by law enforcement in 2013. Silk Road was the first modern darknet market and was accessible only via the Tor network, which anonymizes users by routing their activity through a global server network, making their activities difficult to trace. Silk Road used Bitcoin for transactions, which allowed users to make payments with greater anonymity than traditional payment methods. Most products available on Silk Road ...(100 of 1107 words)

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