Darknet Market Kraken Processes $186 Million in Transactions After Hydra's Demise

After Hydra's demise in April 2022, when German police seized its servers, a new darknet marketplace emerged to fill the void. Kraken, a large Russian-language platform, took over as the leading market and processed at least $186.5 million in transactions, with nearly $147.5 million flowing into cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to an on-chain investigation by BitOK, Kraken's rise to prominence began in May 2022, when the project started openly promoting itself as a replacement for Hydra. The platform's administrators claimed that it was a decentralized operation, making it difficult to 'decapitate' with a single arrest.

Kraken's business model is based on a network of independent shops that handle sales and logistics, while the central platform earns commissions from placements, promotions, and related exchange routes. The primary market is in Russia, but affiliated shop groups operate across the country and beyond.