Dark web marketplace ToRReZ shuts down

The operators of ToRReZ, a dark web underground marketplace for the trade of illegal goods, have shut down their operation last week, the third such marketplace to shut down on its own this year.

The site, which launched in February 2020, operated like an Amazon and eBay-like market, allowing users to register on the site as buyers or sellers.

The site, which claimed to have had more than 160,000 registered users, was primarily known for selling narcotics but also listed products such as malware, data dumps, counterfeiting, and other illegal services.

"After 675 days of presence on the darknet, we have decided to close our door for good," the ToRReZ administrator, an individual known as MrBlonde, wrote in a message posted on the site's homepage.

Since the message was posted—on December 17—the site's admins have disabled the registration of new accounts and the posting of new product listings. Their plan is to shut down servers in 2-3 weeks in order to allow users to withdraw funds deposited on the site, for transactions to finish, and for users to file any complaints or disputes.

ToRReZ operators claim they are shutting down on their own's decision and that they may return in the future with a new market.

They are the second dark web marketplace to shut down on their own terms after the White House Market also did the same thing in early October.

A smaller dark web market named Cannazon also shut down operations a month later, in November, but the site's admins said they had to close down following repeated DDoS attacks.

In addition, law enforcement agencies have also taken a bite out of dark web marketplace operators this year, having taken down and made arrests in connection to DarkMarket (January), Le Monde Parallèle (May), and DeepSea and Berlusconi Market (October).

Nonetheless, there are still more than ten other dark web markets that are still up and operating, which we will not name in this article, still offering a wide variety of illegal products on services.