Hydra Market

Hydra market is one of the largest Russian language markets on the darknet. The caveat is that the site is Russian only – there are no additional languages available. While this will keep away a large chunk of darknet users, this is actually excellent news for you: Since Hydra is primarily isolated and used by Russians only, you may be able to find cheaper prices than anywhere else, depending on the product. The Russian language shouldn’t be much of a problem for the experienced darknet user who will simply use Google translate to make sense of the relevant subsites. If the market site is up, you can find the onion link for Hydra Market to the right of this article.

What you need

The signup is as uncomplicated as on any other market site – you simply choose a username and password and you are good to go. There is no market collateral, you can instantly start browsing the shops and purchase items. For vendors, there are very detailed guides available on how to set up a shop. Vendors can create their own sub-site on Hydra market and there is extensive documentation available on how to do that.

The market itself is divided into a lot of different categories ranging from all kinds of drugs and prescription medication to a wide variety of digital products. Credit card information and SSN as well as ID scans are also available. There are also various shops that offer their own sub-categories.

Russian Paranoia

If you are not residing or located in Russia and are looking for drugs, other market sites might be better suited for you. That is because, due to strict substance abuse regulations, vendors are very careful and are usually delivering their products via dead drop locations. These are usually restricted to cities in Russia but some vendors also offer international shipping.

On the flipside, this is good news for people who are looking to purchase drugs within Russia. If this applies to you, Hydra should be one of the first markets to look at. That is because – as mentioned before – the strict anti-drug policies in Russia force vendors on the darknet to be extra carefil and paranoid resulting in an increase of security for the buyer as well.

Dead drop locations are usually easy to access and often times come with ingenious methods: One of the most common delivery methods is to wrap the product with some small neodym magnets into a ball of trinfoil. That way it can be attached to literally any metal surface. Then a simple picture can show the buyer where he can quickly collect the package without suspicion.

Security Recommendations

Like with all darknet market sites the standard security recommendations apply. First and foremost, stay anonymous. Use the TOR browser only and don’t use the TOR browser for any regular (non-darknet) browsing. Ideally, you have a dedicated system or at least a dedicated VM for all your darknet activities. Keep your darknet PGP keys and other credentials limited to that system only, do not mix it with any activities that would expose your identity.

Treat your dedicated system like a work-system: Only install the software necessary for your operations do not install anything for entertainment or other purposes. Subsequently, resist the urge to browse Twitter, Reddit or any other social media sites while you have downtime. For this always use your regular system.

Never communicate with vendors or buyers outside of Hydra market or you lose the security of the escrow system and dispute policy. Make sure that you encrypt all your communication, no matter how trivial it is. Not only decreases this your overall risk but also helps to establish a habit of it.

For additional system security, we recommend you run a secure operating system like Tails or https://www.whonix.org/ on your dedicated system for darknet activities. We also recommend using a VPN as an additional security measure since TOR will only anonymize your browsing sessions but not other traffic.

Especially when using any public WiFi hotspots you should always use a VPN when accessing the Internet since you don’t know whether the access point is compromised. A VPN ensures that all of your traffic, no matter what application, will always be strongly encrypted when passing the access point, this protecting yourself not only from eavesdropping but also possible identity theft.

Hydra Market Summary

If you are a resident of Russia or just located there temporarily, Hydra market is the site you should be looking at first when you want to purchase drugs online. The secure delivery methods protect you from potentially dreadful consequences, while the rough nature of the market in Russia deters vendors from scamming their customers. As always, when visiting any darknet market make sure to only use trusted links, such as the onion link for Hydra Market on the top right.