US Sanctions Crypto Accounts Linked to Nemesis Darknet Market: A Simple Explanation
The US government has taken a big step to stop bad things happening on the dark web. They have put sanctions on some crypto accounts that were used by a man called Behrouz Parsarad. He is from Iran and he used these accounts to run a place called Nemesis on the dark web.
What is Nemesis?
Nemesis was a place on the dark web where people could buy and sell bad things. These things included drugs, fake IDs, and even hacking services. It started in 2021 and became quite popular. Before it was shut down, it had more than 30,000 people using it and over 1,000 people selling things on it.
Nemesis also had ways to help people hide the money they made from selling these bad things. This is called money laundering.
What are Sanctions?
Sanctions are when the government tells people they can’t do business with someone. In this case, the US government has said that US citizens can’t do any transactions with Behrouz Parsarad or the accounts they put sanctions on.
The US government did this because they want to stop people from using the dark web to do bad things. They did something similar to a place called Hydra Market in 2022.
How Much Money Was Involved?
A company that looks at blockchain data found out that Behrouz Parsarad’s accounts got over $850,000 from selling bad things. He also sent over $12,000 to other darknet markets like ASAP, Incognito, and Next Generation.
Parsarad was trying to hide the money he made by using the changes in the price of Bitcoin. He had more than $1.6 million in his accounts at one point.
What Happens Now?
Even though Nemesis was shut down, Behrouz Parsarad is reportedly planning to start a new darknet market. This means that the problem of darknet markets is still not solved and law enforcement agencies need to keep working to stop them.
The US government’s actions show that they and other countries are serious about stopping cybercrime and drug trafficking on the dark web.
Why is it Hard to Stop Darknet Markets?
Even though the government can shut down these markets and put sanctions on people, they keep coming back. This is because the people running them are very smart and find new ways to hide what they’re doing. It’s a ongoing battle that needs more international cooperation to win.
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Sources:
– cointelegraph.com
– securityweek.com
– cryptoslate.com