In October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shut down Silk Road and arrested Ulbricht. The website was known for its illegal drug marketplace, among other illegal and legal product listings. All transactions were conducted with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which aided in protecting user identities. As part of the dark web, Silk Road operated as a hidden service on the Tor network, allowing users to buy and sell products and services between each other anonymously. It was launched in 2011 by its American founder Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym ' Dread Pirate Roberts'.
Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market. Silk Road 2.0 shut down by FBI and Europol on 6 November 2014. New URL: silkroad7rn2puhj.onion (defunct) Old URL: silkroad6ownowfk.onion (defunct) Ross Ulbricht ( pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts)