Atlantis was a

darknet market A darknet market is a commercial website on the dark web that operates via darknets such as Tor and I2P. They function primarily as black markets, selling or brokering transactions involving drugs, cyber-arms, weapons, counterfeit currency, ...

founded in March 2013, the third such type of market, concurrent with

The Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

and

Black Market Reloaded Black Market Reloaded was a .onion hidden Tor website which sold illegal drugs and other illegal goods such as stolen credit cards and firearms. Its popularity increased dramatically after the closure of Silk Road, its largest competitor. In la ...

. It was the first market to accept

Litecoin Litecoin (Abbreviation: LTC; sign: Ł) is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open-source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Inspired by Bitcoin, Litecoin was the second cryptocurrency starting in October 2011. In te ...

. Shortly after launch, Atlantis deployed an aggressive marketing campaign to compete with Silk Road. To entice customers to switch allegiance, Atlantis focused its strategy on "usability, security, cheaper rates (for vendor accounts and commission), website speed, customer support, and feedback implementation". In June 2013 its

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...

style video attracted much media attention. The video advertised Atlantis as the "world's best anonymous online drug marketplace" and outlined offered features missing in its competitors. After this campaign, one of the site's co-founder announced that they secured more than $1 million in sales. Shortly after

Operation Onymous Operation Onymous was an international law enforcement operation targeting darknet markets and other hidden services operating on the Tor network. Background Operation Onymous was formed as a joint law enforcement operation between the Fede ...

, the market closed with one week's notice in September 2013. Like other markets such as Black Flag, Atlantis' owner closed the site out of fear of arrest. During the trial of

Ross Ulbricht Ross William Ulbricht (; born March 27, 1984) is an American who created and operated the illegal darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. Silk Road was an online marketplace that facilitated the trade in narcotics and othe ...

, it was revealed that Mr. Ulbricht had kept a journal, with one of its final entries stating, "Atlantis shut down. I was messaged by one of their team who said they shut down because of an FBI doc leaked to them detailing vulnerabilities in Tor." There are sources, including the site's staff, who believe that the closing was outright theft, with the owners stealing its users' bitcoins.

References

External links

Youtube mirror of launch video
Internet properties established in 2013 Internet properties disestablished in 2013 Defunct darknet markets {{crime-stub