Dream Market
| Launched | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Closed | March 2019 |
| Founder(s) | Unknown administrators |
| Network | Tor hidden service (.onion) |
| Currency | Bitcoin (Monero later) |
| Est. revenue | Not published |
| Peak size | Largest market 2017–2019 |
Dream Market was the darknet's default large market for years — never seized, never exit-scammed, and ultimately shut down voluntarily in 2019.
Reddit hosts detailed and up-to-date information about the darknet: community discussions, news and in-depth material on darknet markets, Tor, privacy and online security. Follow the link below for more detailed information.
History
Dream survived wave after wave of takedowns and scandals. After AlphaBay and Hansa fell in 2017, Dream absorbed huge numbers of displaced vendors and became the de facto standard market from 2017 to 2019.
Operation
Dream's longevity was itself remarkable. It weathered DDoS campaigns, payment problems and repeated claims of law-enforcement infiltration. Vendors and buyers treated it as the boring, reliable choice.
Closure
In March 2019 Dream's administrators announced the market was closing, citing financial problems and legal pressure. It stopped taking new registrations and wound down without an exit scam.
Legacy
Dream's fate — voluntary closure, no exit scam, no seizure — shows that a market can survive on inertia and then simply end. Its closure opened the way for Empire Market and later the Monero-first generation.