Operation Onymous

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Operation Onymous was an international crackdown on darknet marketplaces on the Tor network. Led by the FBI and Europol, with help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Eurojust and partners in 17 countries, the operation took place on November 5–6, 2014.

Authorities shut down many sites associated with illicit activities, including Silk Road 2.0, Cloud 9 and Hydra, along with money‑laundering and contraband sites. At least 17 people were arrested. A 26‑year‑old software developer in San Francisco, using the alias Defcon, was accused of running Silk Road 2.0. Within hours, a new site, Silk Road 3.0, appeared. About $1 million in Bitcoin and roughly €180,000 in cash were seized, along with gold, silver and drugs.

Court filings described seizures affecting around 27 dark‑market sites on Tor, though initial reports had claimed many more. Other major markets such as Agora, Evolution and Andromeda were not shut down. The operation was praised by officials for disrupting illicit activity, but it also sparked debate about the methods used and the accuracy of the claimed numbers. Some experts questioned claims of hidden‑service deanonymization and noted that several large markets continued to operate.