Silk Road (marketplace)

The Silk Road was an online marketplace launched in 2011 that operated on the dark web, using anonymity tools like Tor. It facilitated the anonymous sale of various goods, including many illegal items such as drugs and stolen data, by connecting buyers and sellers securely. Transactions were often conducted with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to protect privacy. Law enforcement shut down the site in 2013, citing illegal activities, but it served as a pioneering model for anonymous online markets and highlighted significant legal and ethical challenges related to online anonymity and illicit trade.