Sheep Marketplace
{{Short description|Darknet market}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Sheep Marketplace
| logo = Logo_of_Sheep_Marketplace.png
| logo_size = 157px
| logocaption =
| screenshot =
| collapsible =
| collapsetext =
| caption =
| url = {{Onion defunct|sheep5u64fi457aw}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.deepdotweb.com/marketplace-directory/listing/sheep-marketplace/ |title=Sheep Marketplace | Deep Dot Web |access-date=2017-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708130829/https://www.deepdotweb.com/marketplace-directory/listing/sheep-marketplace/ |archive-date=2017-07-08 |url-status=dead }}
| commercial = Yes
| type = Darknet market
| registration = Required
| language = English
| num_users =
| content_license =
| owner =
| author =
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| launch_date = March 2013
| alexa =
| revenue =
| current_status = Offline
| footnotes =
}}
Sheep Marketplace was an anonymous marketplace set up as a Tor hidden service. It launched in March 2013 and was one of the lesser known sites to gain popularity with the well publicized closure of the Silk Road marketplace later that year. It ceased operation in December 2013, when it announced it was shutting down after a vendor stole $6 million worth of users' bitcoins.{{cite web |author=Adrianne Jeffries |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281656/silk-road-black-market-reloaded-tor-marketplaces |title=Drugs, porn, and counterfeits: the market for illegal goods is booming online |website=The Verge |date=2013-04-29 |access-date=2013-12-02 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928094216/https://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281656/silk-road-black-market-reloaded-tor-marketplaces |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25185225 |title=Dark marketplace closes after theft of £3m in bitcoins |work=BBC |date=2013-12-02 |access-date=2013-12-02 |archive-date=15 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615165526/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25185225 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.techienews.co.uk/973470/silk-road-like-sheep-marketplace-scams-users-39k-bitcoins-worth-40-million-stolen/ |title=Silk Road-like Sheep Marketplace scams users; over 39k Bitcoins worth $40 million stolen |publisher=Techie News |date=2013-12-01 |access-date=2013-12-02 |first=Ravi |last=Mandala |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113721/http://www.techienews.co.uk/973470/silk-road-like-sheep-marketplace-scams-users-39k-bitcoins-worth-40-million-stolen/ |url-status=live }}
Bitcoin theft incident
In December 2013 Sheep Marketplace announced that one of the site's vendors exploited a vulnerability to steal 5,400 bitcoins, valued at about $6 million at the time.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/12/01/silk-road-competitor-shuts-down-and-another-plans-to-go-offline-after-6-million-theft/ |title=Silk Road Competitor Shuts Down And Another Plans To Go Offline After Claimed $6 Million Theft |magazine=Forbes |date=2013-12-01 |access-date=2013-12-02 |first=Andy |last=Green berg |archive-date=26 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526004423/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/12/01/silk-road-competitor-shuts-down-and-another-plans-to-go-offline-after-6-million-theft/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/03/online-drugs-marketplace-shut-down-bitcoin-hack-sheep |title=Online drugs marketplace shut down after £3.5m bitcoin hack |newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 December 2013 |accessdate=25 April 2014 |first=Alex |last=Hern |archive-date=21 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421074138/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/03/online-drugs-marketplace-shut-down-bitcoin-hack-sheep |url-status=live }} According to Forbes and The Guardian, several users reported the site had started to block withdrawals of bitcoins more than a week prior to the theft. Users furthermore suggested the site's administrators held far more than 5,400 bitcoins, pointing to records of a coincidental transfer of almost 40,000.{{Cite web |url=https://blockchain.info/address/1EiVHZnDVjFH6Tic1YmWUSfYmVUnUZdnMU |title=Block chain record |access-date=25 April 2014 |archive-date=28 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328231555/https://blockchain.info/address/1EiVHZnDVjFH6Tic1YmWUSfYmVUnUZdnMU |url-status=live }} As users in the site's forums began to complain and discuss the possibility of connivance, administrators took the forum offline.{{cite web|work=Daily Dot|title=Sheep Marketplace scam reveals everything that's wrong with the Deep Web|last=Sankin|first=Aaron|date=2 December 2013|url=https://www.dailydot.com/crime/sheep-marketplace-scam-shut-down/|access-date=27 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090319/https://www.dailydot.com/crime/sheep-marketplace-scam-shut-down/|url-status=live}}
Victims of the theft have attempted to identify the thief by sending "tagged" bitcoins to his accounts, using the public nature of bitcoin transactions to follow the coins through the blockchain. Within a couple days of the theft, a large amount of bitcoins were noticed being processed by Bitcoin Fog, a tumbler used to launder bitcoins by shuffling them between many accounts for a small fee. The size of the transaction, 96,000 bitcoins, caused Bitcoin Fog to fail, leaving the money traceable.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/A-Thief-Is-Attempting-To-Hide-100-Million-In-5031329.php|title=A Thief Is Attempting To Hide $100 Million In Stolen Bitcoins — And You Can Watch It Live Right Now|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=2013-12-03|accessdate=2013-12-04|last=Edwards|first=Jim|archive-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207002118/http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/A-Thief-Is-Attempting-To-Hide-100-Million-In-5031329.php|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1rvlft/i_just_chased_him_through_a_bitcoin_tumbler_and/|title=I just Chased him through a bitcoin tumbler, and when he Came out with 96,000 BTC, I was Waiting for Him...|website=Reddit|date=2013-12-01|accessdate=2013-12-04|archive-date=21 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721083707/https://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1rvlft/i_just_chased_him_through_a_bitcoin_tumbler_and/|url-status=live}} Not long thereafter, the last known wallet of the user who had been presumed to be the thief was found to be a wallet owned by BTC-e, a large bitcoin currency exchange. This has led to speculation that the thief sent their money to the exchange in the hope of trading the coins for alternate crypto-currencies or moving to new wallets to further obfuscate their path.{{cite news |author=Alex Hern |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/09/recovering-stolen-bitcoin-sheep-marketplace-trading-digital-currency-money |title=Recovering stolen bitcoin: a digital wild goose chase | Technology |work=The Guardian |accessdate=2013-12-22 |archive-date=9 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709185910/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/09/recovering-stolen-bitcoin-sheep-marketplace-trading-digital-currency-money |url-status=live }}
In May 2016 two men from Florida, then 21-year-old students Sean Mackert and Nathan Gibson, were arrested after tracing Bitcoin transactions via Coinbase.{{Cite web|last=Shin|first=Laura|title=Mystery Solved: $6.6 Million Bitcoin Theft That Brought Down Dark Web Site Tied To 2 Florida Men|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/05/30/mystery-solved-6-6-million-bitcoin-theft-that-brought-down-dark-web-site-tied-to-2-florida-men/|access-date=2021-08-30|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909011050/https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/05/30/mystery-solved-6-6-million-bitcoin-theft-that-brought-down-dark-web-site-tied-to-2-florida-men/|url-status=live}} Subsequently, the pair pled guilty to the crime of Bitcoin wire fraud on Sheep Marketplace in 2018 and are now facing a maximum prison time of up to twenty years.{{Cite web |last=Scanlan |first=Dan |title={{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|Forefeited}} funds seized from 2 Jacksonville men awarded to agencies that helped investigate bitcoin theft |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2018/01/17/forefeited-funds-seized-2-jacksonville-men-awarded-agencies-helped/15333038007/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=The Florida Times-Union |language=en-US}} About $4 million worth of Bitcoin stolen by Mackert and Gibson has since been seized by the United States Federal government.{{Cite web|date=2018-01-17|title=More Than $1.7 Million In Forfeited Funds Presented To Law Enforcement Agencies|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/more-17-million-forfeited-funds-presented-law-enforcement-agencies|access-date=2021-08-30|website=www.justice.gov|language=en|archive-date=30 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830204628/https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/more-17-million-forfeited-funds-presented-law-enforcement-agencies|url-status=live}} The overwhelming evidence found against Sean Mackert and Nathan Gibson in which they were found to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt also exonerated other persons of interests in the case since the allegations of theft against the latter were found to be baseless and the evidence unsatisfying. Thus, the case is closed.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Tor hidden services}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
Category:Internet properties established in 2013