Blacksprut is a Russian-language, drug-focused market that maintains a presence on both the dark web and clear web. It has been in operation since May 2021 but only gained any sort of prominence after the closure of Hydra in April 2022. It is currently one of the more popular darknet markets in Russia, although smaller than competitors like OMG!OMG! and Mega. With over 1,100 vendors, Blacksprut services nearly the entirety of Russia and outlying states of the Russian Federation. Rules seem to be more lax than other Russian markets. The market itself is easy to navigate and features a clean interface.
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Fairly unconventional compared to most other darknet markets, Blacksprut does not support PGP, meaning it is impossible to send encrypted messages to others or use PGP as a 2-FA option. It is also possible to fund accounts with BTC purchased using a Visa or Mastercard from one of the market’s exchangers. This has led some to question the strictness of their security measures in terms of protecting their users, although the thinking is that orders should be able to be placed and fulfilled without much communication between buyer and seller. All orders are done using the dead drop or “buried treasure” system.
Blacksprut Product Selection
Blacksprut offers the following categories of listings, many of which contain many subcategories: Pharmaceuticals, Dissociatives, Marijuana, Opiates, Psychedelics, Stimulants, Chemical Reagents / Precursors, Ecstasy, Entheogens, Euphoretics, Bases for Smoking Mixtures, Other, Work, Medicine, Advertising, Ways to Earn Money, Counterfeit Money, and Cannabinoids. The most popular products on Blacksprut seem to be mephedrone, hash, alpha-PVP, and marijuana.
Blacksprut Payment Methods
All purchases on Blacksprut are made using Bitcoin (BTC) from a centrally-controlled account wallet. In addition to the usual BTC deposit option, Blacksprut supports purchase of BTC through the site from a number of exchange partners. Somewhat surprisingly, most of the cash-in services offered by these partners accept Visa/Mastercard for payment, although a few also support SIM-based money transfers. Blacksprut does not offer any sort of advanced payment methods, including multisig or direct pay options. Note that Blacksprut also does not allow buyers to withdraw BTC.
Blacksprut Pros
- Services many areas within Russia and surrounding territories.
- Easy-to-navigate layout and intuitive interface.
- Huge selection of products in well-organized system of categories.
- Good uptime rate, easily accessible via both dark web and clear web.
Blacksprut Cons
- Puts responsibility of security on the user (no PGP).
- Use of Visa / Mastercard options offered by exchangers presents additional security problems.
- No 2-FA or ability to recover account if password is lost or stolen.
- Buyers cannot withdraw BTC from their account.
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In all, Blacksprut is one of the top contending Russian Federation-only darknet markets to fill Hydra’s shoes. They have done a good job in establishing a foothold in the highly competitive landscape, with many users considering it trustworthy enough and a decent operation. It is perhaps one of the easiest to use darknet markets ever created, although this definitely comes at a cost of potential OpSec problems for its users.
