BlackStores — frequently asked questions

A darknet store is a hidden-service marketplace running on Tor. The store’s identity is its v3 onion fingerprint rather than a DNS name. Buyer-vendor escrow runs through marketplace-controlled multisig pools, dispute decisions are arbitrated by moderators, and payments settle in privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies like Monero.

BlackStores tracks seven: Nexus, Anubis, Osiris, Crown, Mars, Awazon and WeTheNorth (WTN). All have been continuously reachable for at least 90 days, all settle in Monero, all run multi-mirror v3 endpoints, and all publish PGP-signed mirror rotations on the Dread forum.

Use the verified link lists on BlackStores. Every link here is sourced from the operator’s most recent PGP-signed Dread announcement. Do not type or paste links from Google search results, chat groups, Telegram channels or email — those are systematically used by phishing clones.

All seven stores tracked here accept Monero (XMR) — the privacy-preserving default. All accept Bitcoin (BTC) for vendor compatibility. Three accept Litecoin (LTC): Nexus, Anubis, Mars. One accepts Ethereum natively: Anubis. There is no clearnet payment flow on any of these stores.

Browsing is generally legal in most jurisdictions. Specific items sold on darknet stores can be illegal to purchase or possess — laws vary widely by country and product category. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice; if you are unsure about a specific use case, consult counsel in your jurisdiction.

An order’s funds enter a multisig address that requires signatures from two of three parties — buyer, vendor and operator — to spend. A normal confirm-and-release is a two-signature spend by buyer and operator. A dispute decision is a two-signature spend by operator and whichever party prevailed in dispute review.

An exit scam is when the operator drains the marketplace’s multisig pools and disappears. Funds sitting in pending orders are usually lost. To limit exposure: never keep more on a marketplace balance than you can afford to lose, withdraw frequently, and watch the operator’s Dread account for warning signs (silence, ignored disputes, unexplained downtime).

By running multiple concurrent v3 onion endpoints. If one comes under sustained pressure, users paste another endpoint into Tor Browser and the store stays reachable. Mars runs the most concurrent endpoints; Osiris is also availability-focused. Crown runs the fewest — two — because the bespoke storefront is harder to spin up across many endpoints.