Tormarket

Tormarket is a relatively new drug-focused darknet site that is focused on supplying the drug market in New Zealand. The vast majority of the customers reside in New Zealand but some vendors are willing to ship internationally as well. While Tormarket is a small site, it is constantly growing. The low user numbers should not be overvalued: Since the market is new, the majority of its users will yet have to arrive. If the market site is up, you can find the onion link for Tormarket to the right of this article.

Simple and Elegant

Tormarket is one of the easiest markets to navigate. The site has a very simple layout where you can browse the different categories on the left side. You will need to sign up to have full access to the market but do not worry, the is no market fee or collateral involved. You should note down the site’s public PGP key to authenticate their messages.

Once you are signed up you can browse the different categories, they are Benzodiazepines, Cannabis (seeds, edibles, and inhalables), Ecstasy, Ketamine, Opioids, Psychedelics, Stimulants, and Steroids. The purchases are straight up and simple and the market utilized an escrow system: When the customer wants a refund, the vendor and the customer try to resolve the issue. ie re-ship, return goods, partial or full refund. The customer can change the refund amount they request. When it is something both parties agree on, the vendor can accept the refund amount and funds are paid out. Or the buyer can cancel the refund request and finalize it.

If no agreement is reached, the market decides how to distribute the money in escrow. In the case that the vendor has ignored a refund request, the market may approve the customer’s refund after 7 days. The vendor must respond to the customer’s refund request in the form of Tor Market messaging and maintain consistent communication until the issue is resolved. Periodically the escrow funds are replaced with fresh coins from Chaumian CoinJoin.This means that anyone who has paid into the wallet so they can analyse it, will have a limited window in time between their payment and when all the funds are replaced, to follow transactions. Then the trail stops and it’s like a new wallet was started. Vendors pay a flat 5% fee on every sale, there are no other costs involved.

Detailed Information

Tormarket has an extensive help section that covers all kinds of topics from their policy and rules to their security measures: All network access to the webserver is through TOR and includes additional hops through other networks in addition to TOR.The server does not send email or make any contact to the internet other than DNS, software updates and TOR access. This means that network traces of the server do not reveal any users or operators of the server.

Session data (cookies) are all stored client-side, signed and encrypted. No session data is stored on the server. This gives speed improvements and additional security because database leaks cannot reveal session tokens.

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 Tormarket 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.

Tormarket Summary

Tormarket is great for customers in New Zealand or even Australia that need a good local source for drug products. Especially for people in New Zealand this is likely the site with the cheapest offers available but also for others this could be an interesting market as it is relatively new and small and as such vendors are always trying to generate interest with good offers. As always, when visiting any darknet market make sure to only use trusted links, such as the onion link for Tormarket on the top right.