Welcome to the fast lane to the Darknet Markets. This guide is better than 99% of the guides you'll find on the markets because it's written solely from my personal research and experience when I was new to the darknet. It's meant to get you on the markets in less than an hour. Most guides are just copy/paste hack jobs of shit stolen from other guides with mostly outdated information. This guide is written for people who know nothing about the darknet except that they've maybe heard mention of it on the news, a place on the internet people buy and sell drugs.
Darknet/Dark Web: Websites that exist on the World Wide Web and use the infrastructure of the public internet, but is not indexed or accessible without special software, configurations, or authorizations. You can't just open internet explorer on your windows laptop and type in a darknet website's address to access it. It's like a secret internet within the internet. I'll now describe how to access the Darknet.
First and foremost, you need to make sure you're accessing the darknet securely and anonymously. This is THE most important aspect of your operational security(OPSEC). By far the easiest way is to buy cheap laptop that you're only going to use for darknet activities. Then buy two USB thumbdrives with at least 16GB space. Then go to this link and follow the instructions on installing TAILS on a USB thumbdrive. TAILS is an operating system(like Windows) that disappears and deletes everything when you log out. If you use TAILS and the police got ahold of your laptop to try and trace your activity on the darknet, they would find nothing. It will work right alongside Windows so it can be booted on a laptop right out of the box, no need to configure anything. Link to instructions for setting up TAILS:
The best thing about TAILS is that it's built for anonymity and has a bunch of the apps you'll need already installed, no need to configure anything. Once TAILS is installed, boot it up and open TOR browser. You're now ready to safely browse the darknet. While there are all sorts of content and sites on the darknet, this guide assumes you're only interested in accessing DNMs(Darknet Markets). These are the “Ebays” of the Darknet where you can buy and sell all sorts of illegal shit, from drugs to fraud-related products. Getting to this point is usually easy for most people. Where most newbies get stuck is the use of Bitcoin, the digital currency used to buy and sell items on DNMs. Paypal, credit cards, Western Union, etc. can all be traced to you and the seller. Bitcoin allows you to purchase items without leaving a trace to your identity. A digital currency that exists only on the internet can be a difficult concept to grasp at first, but once you start using it it's really simple. Some things to know about Bitcoin:
-The details of how it actually works is complex. Don't waste time trying to understand it. Just know that it's money on the internet you can buy and use on DNMs.
-The value of Bitcoin fluctuates a lot. It's an entirely new concept of currency and people don't yet know if it'll become as common as the American dollar or if people will stop using it and it'll disappear and be worth zero dollars. If you ask me, it's the future of money and will replace physical money. Either way, know that you could buy $1,000 worth of BTC and a week later it could be worth $900 or $1000. As of this writing 1 BTC is worth $1,550 USD.
-To buy Bitcoin, create an account on localbitcoin.com. Read the help and support section to learn how the site actually works, it's pretty simple. People who have BTC post offers to sell it in exchange for all sorts of things. Some examples of what vendors accept: Western Union, Moneygram, Amazon gift cards, Credit card, Debit Card, Direct bank transfer, even cash in person.
To initiate a trade, simply click on the BUY button on the offer you're taking. Put in the amount you want to buy and click SEND TRADE REQUEST then wait a couple minutes. The seller will send a chat message giving you the information you need to send them money. This information will be dependant on what type of payment system they use. For example, if Western Union, they'll send you their full name and country. If direct bank deposit, they'll send you the business name the ban account is under, the account number, and the state they're in.
I find the most convenient way is direct bank deposit. Look for a vendor who accepts bank deposits at a popular bank like Bank of America or a Co-Op credit union that has thousands of locations all over the country. You simply go in, ask for an out-of-state deposit check, fill out the account info the seller gives you, then give it and the cash to the bank teller. That's it. Once the transaction is complete the seller will release the BTC you bought and you'll see it in your localbitcoin.com account wallet. At this point it can still be tied to your identity, so it's time to make it untraceable. We do this by transfering it to a BTC wallet. Basically just a program that stores BTC for you. TAILS has an anonymous wallet already installed called Electrum(Applications > Internet). Setting up a wallet is easy:
1. Open Electrum and click File > NEW/RESTORE and enter a name for the wallet.
2. Select STANDARD WALLET and click next. Select CREATE NEW SEED and click next.
3. You'll then be presented with 12 random english words. THIS IS THE KEY TO YOUR WALLET. IF YOU LOSE THESE WORDS YOU COULD LOSE ALL YOUR BTC.
4. Your seed is so important you don't want to store it anywhere someone could find it. I like to write it on page 100 of a random book in my bookshelf.
5. Click next and write your seed in the box, then click next.
6. Create a password*** and click next. You now have an anonymous BTC wallet.
Now you'll want to transfer your newly bought BTC from your localbitcoin wallet to your new Electrum wallet. You should see a tab in Electrum that says ADDRESSES. If you don't, click WALLET on the top menu and then click ADDRESSES to show the tab. On the addresses tab is a list of BTC addresses. An address is just a unique identifier you use to send BTC to specific wallets.
Right-click the first address on the list and select COPY. Now go to localbitcoin.com and click on your BTC total in the top-right corner. Paste the address you copied into the “Receiving address” field and enter the amount of BTC you have to send. Click the CONTINUE button, verify your password, and away it goes. It can take upwards of 20 minutes before you see it in your Electrum wallet.
Now the thing about the BTC system is that EVERY transaction is public. You can literally go to a website and see what address sent how many BTC to what address. Someone can see your localbitcoin wallet address sent BTC to your Electrum wallet address. They can see where the person who sold you the BTC got it, and where that person got it and so on. To break this “chain” a lot of people use “tumblers.” It's basically a service you send your BTC to, they mix it up with a bunch of other BTC other people sent them to tumble, and then send you back the amount you put in, for a fee. Do that and nobody can trace your BTC back to your localbitcoin account which may be tied to your identity. Rather than pay for tumbling, I simply create another Electrum wallet. I then send my BTC from my first wallet to my second wallet in two or three transactions. So if I bought 1 BTC on localbitcoin and sent it to my Electrum wallet, I'll then send a transaction of .2 BTC to one address in my second wallet, another transaction of .5 BTC to a different address in my second wallet, and a third transaction of .3 BTC to a third address. There is absolutely no way for anyone to prove that you owned the second wallet and its addresses. For all they know you sent your BTC to 3 different people for goods or services. Maybe you bought a toy robot from some guy in China who prefers to be paid in BTC rather than waiting for cash to mailed from across the globe to him.
So now you have BTC that can't be tied to you. Now it's time to find a market to spend it on. The sub reddit group maintains a good list of markets. I personally think it's easiest to start on Alphabay. Copy and paste one of the addresses listed on the Superlist into your browser address bar (example: pwoah7foa6au2pul.onion) and create an Alphabay account. It should be pretty simple for anyone who's ever created an online account. Congrats, you're now on the DNMs. The layout of Alphabay is pretty simple. You can search listings by type, keywords, or just browse using the menu on the left of the page. Clicking on a listing will give you the product details, pictures, cost, etc. It's like eBay.
The very first thing you're going to want to do once you're registered is to go to your profile settings page by clicking your username in the top-right corner of the page and set up 2FA, and PGP.
PGP: PGP is just a system used to encrypt messages so the person with the key/password can read it. TAILS has a PGP program built in. It's the clipboard icon in the top-right corner of your screen. Click that icon and select MANAGE KEYS. When the program opens select FILE > NEW > PGP KEY. Enter any fake name and email you want and click CREATE, then create a password.
You'll now see your key listed in PGP KEYS. If you click and highlight your key in the right panel and CTRL + C, you can go to your profile on Alphabay and CTRL + P in the PGP PUBLIC KEY field. People can now use this to send you encrypted messages nobody but you can decrypt. Similarly, you can go to someone's Alphabay profile and click the PGP tab to copy theirs. You'll want to open the PGP program where you created your key, click PGP KEYS in th left panel again, and CTRL + P to add that person's PGP to your list. When you want to send someone an encrypted message, Copy your message, click the clipboard icon top-right in TAILS, and select SIGN/ENCRYPT CLIPBORD WITH PUBLIC KEYS. Check the box next to that person's name and click yes when asked if you trust this key. You can now CTRL + P to paste the encrypted message into a PM. WHEN ORDERING FROM A VENDOR ALWAYS ENCRYPT THE NAME AND ADDRESS YOU GIVE THEM TO SHIP TO.
2FA: Directly under where you just pasted your public PGP key there is a drop-down box with the option to “Enable two-factor authentication on login. Setting this option will require you to decrypt a message encrypted with your PGP every time you log into Alphabay. That means that even if someone gets your Alphabay password, they still won't be able to access your account withouth your private PGP key/paswword.
Now you're all set up to use Alphabay. But be warned: THERE ARE A LOT OF SCAMMERS ON DNMS WHO WONT HESITATE TO STEAL YOUR BTC. Here are some tips to avoid getting scammed:
-Join the Alphabay forums right away and spend AT LEAST a week or two just browsing around the market and reading the forums before you even attempt to make a purchase. Familiarize yourself with how things work, don't rush. You'll need your forum registration token to register for the forums, which can be found at the very bottom of your AB profile page. Click your username in the top-right corner and scroll down to copy it
Click FORUMS from Alphabay's homepage menu bar and select CREATE NEW ACCOUNT. Put your username, password, and the forum token you copied from the screenshot above.
Once you register and log into the forum, you'll immediately start getting private messages that appear to be from Alphabay Staff or a Moderator asking for you to do more steps to finish registering. Ignore and delete these messages. They're bot accounts trying to phish your info. You'll usually get 1-4 of these messages within 10 minutes of joining.
Now onto actually using the site. Some tips:
-Identify what product you want to buy and research who the most popular vendors are for that product. Read enough forum posts in the drug-specific subforums and you'll see certain vendor names keep popping up. Go on the market and search that name. Go to their profile, look at their feedback, put their name in the forum's search box and read every post that comes up to see what people have said about that vendor. Reddit is also a good source of information. You'll see people asking about, reviewing, or talking about vendors and their products. Some useful subreddits:
For Weed:
For Xanax:
All Drugs:
-Once you've determined which vendor you want to go with, you'll need to transfer your BTC to your Alphabay wallet. Simply click Balance from the menu at the top of Alpha's homepage, copy the address listed, and paste it in the SEND field in your electrum wallet.
Ordering is easy. Click the item listing, click the BUY button, encrypt your name and address and paste in the buyer's notes field, enter your pin, and CONFIRM.
Your order has now been placed. If you click the ORDERS menu option on AB's homepage you'll see the order in PROCESSING status. Your Bitcoin will stay in Escrow, held by Alphabay, until the transaction is complete. When the seller ships your item they'll mark it so and you'll get a notification. On the orders page status will be changed to SHIPPED. When your item arrives, go to orders page and click on the order. Scroll to the bottom and click FINALIZE. This will finalize the transaction and release the payment to the vendor.
Some tips about orders:
-Look closely at the listing you're purchasing to make sure it says PHYSICAL ITEM and not DIGITAL ITEM. The former will “autofinalize” and release the funds to the vendor after 15 days if you don't do it manually. The latter does so in 2 days. A common scam is to set things as digital items, get your money in two days, and tell you to fuck off when you message them in a week or two to tell them your order never arrived in the mail.
-Higher level vendors have the ability to FE or FINALIZE EARLY. The listing will say FE in the title and when you order, the money gets released to the vendor immediately. Never order FE listings. I don't care how long the vendor has been building a reputation or how trustworthy they are. This is an anonymous market for illegal shit. Remember that. Never give any vendor money until you actually receive what you ordered and verified it's as-advertised. I don't care what they say or how friendly or reassuring they are or how much cheaper they're selling what you want compared to other vendors. It's worth paying a little more for a vendor that uses Escrow.
-It's a common courtesy to finalize your order when you receive your order. Vendors hate buyers that just let the order autofinalize in 15 days even though they received their order in a 7. You can build good relationships with vendors by always finalizing upon delivery. ALWAYS leave feedback. If you're happy with the product and service, leave feedback on the order's page where you finalized. If the product was shit, message the vendor and tell them. A lot of them will offer to make it right rather than you leaving negative feedback. If they won't make it right, leave negative feedback and help save the next guy from getting ripped off by that vendor.
-Don't be one of those annoying customers that are a constant thorn in a vendor's side. Don't message them 24 hours after placing your order asking for a shipment tracking number. If their shipping time says 4-5 days, don't message them on day 5 asking where you package is. Don't message them before placing an order claiming “I usually move 10k pills a week but I'm only ordering 150 from you to test them out to make sure they're legit” in hopes of getting some sort of deal or preferential treatment. Vendors gets these messages ALL THE TIME. They know you're not some big player moving massive bulk, you're just someone hoping to get a discount by making a vendor want to land a “big fish” like you. Shipping: remember the postal system in America is shit and unpredictable. Some packs that should take 4 days could take 10. Don't message the vendor unless you have a legitimate reason, like your package being 10 days late or the product being garbage compared to what the listing made it appear. Vendors get tons of messages every day and they notice buyers who are simple to work with. Eventually after a few seemless and easy orders you ca send them a PM telling them you love their service and product. If they respond and seem to be open to some small talk, chat a little and ask them if they can get bulk orders bigger than what they list and what prices they'd be. They may start offering you better deals.
-Don't order from the biggest vendors on the block, the ones you see on Alphabay's homepage with paid ad listings, the ones with thousands and thousands of sales. Their product is almost always subpar compared to what you can find from a smaller vendor and their customer service is shit.