Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Evolution Market's Admins Are Gone, Along With $12M In Bitcoin

Posted by Soulskill on from the digital-golden-parachute dept.

tsu doh nimh writes: The Evolution Market, an online black market that sells everything contraband — from marijuana, heroin and ecstasy to stolen identities and malicious hacking services — appears to have vanished in the last 24 hours with little warning. Much to the chagrin of countless merchants hawking their wares in the underground market, the curators of the project have reportedly absconded with the community's bitcoins — a stash that some Evolution merchants reckon is worth more than USD $12 million.

11 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Free market will sort it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't worry, the invisible hand will soon make an invisible punishment for those responsible.

    1. Re:Free market will sort it out by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Informative

      it's free as in you have no rules.

      it's non-free as in you have no freedom to publish your identity nor does the other party publish his, so no trust relations can be created based on long term reputation.

      and well, free market will sort itself out, they figured out that running with the money was better business. maybe it was, maybe not, just another company strategy.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Free market will sort it out by jythie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If the government was not fighting drugs, sites like this would probably just change which black market commodities they were involved with. That is not to say I agree with prohibition, but I think in this case it would not matter one way or the other since it was the profit motive of illegal trades that drew people in.

    3. Re:Free market will sort it out by jythie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That tends to be the problem with pure free market corrections. What is good for the market and what is good for individuals in advantageous positions often to not align, with aggregate self interest often running contrary to what is good for almost everyone.

    4. Re:Free market will sort it out by ultranova · · Score: 5, Informative

      I have to point out that if the government wasn't fighting the drug trade they would be free to openly sell the risk.

      If the government wasn't fighting some drugs the users would simply buy them from their local booze store with little if any risk to anyone.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    5. Re:Free market will sort it out by rjhubs · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The demand for illegal weaponry is not as great as the demand for controlled substances. Yes, there is no doubt criminal organizations would move to other pursuits, but they would be less profitable pursuits. Also, lets acknowledge the demand for illegal weaponry is already being met by criminal organizations. If you dropped the regulations on controlled substances, some of the existing organizations would try and become legit (we saw this during prohibition). Others would be forced into an already crowded market for dealing controlled arms.

  2. Once again proving... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... there is no honor among thieves.

  3. Wait... by nitehawk214 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People dealing in illegal goods on a site that specialized in black market goods were trusting a 3rd party to hang on to all of their money?

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  4. Re:Why is bitcoin popular again? by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's no longer funny, it's hilarious. It's hilarious that people still trust an untraceable, pseudoanonymous bit of data that's worth real money to organizations that have no bigger entity breathing down their necks.

    I have no love for big banks, but at least in the United States, the FDIC and NCUA do a good job of regulating the banks and credit unions such that the bank cannot simply steal your money wholesale and get away with it.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  5. Acceptable risk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    None of the people who actually use the black markets are surprised. It's a gamble; 9/10 times I get military grade shit, 1/10 i lose money. To me it's acceptable. Nobody points a gun at my head on the Internets, only a bunch of dickheads at Slashdot that think we are all gullible. Clueless...

  6. Re:Why is bitcoin popular again? by evanbd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fortunately, bitcoin allows multi-signature escrow. That permits the escrow service to decide who gets the bitcoins (buyer or seller), but doesn't let them run off with them. It's not perfect, as it can't prevent collusion between escrow agent and either party against the other party, but it does prevent the simpler forms of "just run off with the money". Why it isn't in more widespread use yet, I have no idea.