Russia sentences Hydra market founder to life in prison

Stanislav Moiseev, the founder of the online black market and crypto mixing service Hydra which took in over $5 billion worth of crypto during its operation, has been sentenced to life in prison by a Russian court.

A Moscow Regional Court found Moiseev and 15 of his accomplices guilty of organizing a criminal community and illegally producing and selling psychotropic substances and drugs, according to a Dec. 2 statement from the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office.

Sentences handed down to Moiseev’s 15 accomplices varied from 8 to 23 years.

Moiseev was also fined $38,100 (4 million rubles), while his 15 accomplices were ordered to pay a combined $152,400 (16 million rubles).

Properties and vehicles tied to the convicted were also seized as part of their sentencing orders.

They will serve their sentences in correctional colonies under “strict regimes,” Russian state-owned media outlet TASS reported.

Hydra was once the world’s largest darknet marketplace, accounting for 80% of all darknet-related crypto transactions in 2021 and taking in over $5.2 billion in crypto between its launch in 2015 and its takedown in 2022, according to the United States Justice Department.

It was notorious for selling stolen credit card data, counterfeit currencies and fake identity documents.

Hydra’s crypto volumes on exchanges surged 624% year-over-year between 2018 and 2020 as its crime operations became more sophisticated, according to a May 2021 report from blockchain security firm Flashpoint, which has since teamed up with TRM Labs.

German authorities shut it down in April 2022, taking control of its Bitcoin (BTC) and servers, which were based in the country and reported the service had 17 million customers and 19,000 vendor accounts. German law enforcement also seized almost a ton of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Related: India cracks down on darknet drug deals using crypto tracking

Hydra had been investigated by Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2016.

The other Hydra members sentenced were Alexander Chirkov, Andrei Trunov, Evgeny Andreev, Ivan Koryakin, Vadim Krasninsky, Georgy Kierobiani, Artur Kolesnikov, Nikolai Bilyk, Alekandr Kabalina, Mikhail Dombrovkogo, Alexander Aminova and Sergey Czech.

The sentences are subject to appeals.

Darknet marketplaces received revenue of at least $1.7 billion in 2023 — rising even further from 2022 when Hydra was shut down, according to a report earlier this year from Chainalysis.

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