Markets: Atlantis

Atlantis was founded during March of 2013 and was the third modern dark-net marketplace after Black Market Reloaded and the Silk Road. It was the first dark-net market to implement multiple cryptocurrencies for use as it accepted both Bitcoin and Litecoin for transactions. Shortly after it was launched, the sites’ staff launched an aggressive marketing campaign in order to compete with the other two marketplaces. Its’ campaign tactics involved exposing the Silk Road’s flaws, boasting about its’ better security, features, up-time, cheaper rates for commission and vendors, and how it was built from the ground-up to be better than its’ competitors. They also offered discounts to Silk Road users to steal their user-base. After the marketing campaign was over, the owner announced they had secured over one million dollars in sales.

Atlantis shut down sometime during September of 2013, one week after announcing its’ planned closure. The owner stated in the announcement that they were ceasing all operations due to security reasons outside of their control, and that users had only one week to withdraw their funds and any funds remaining in their accounts after its’ closure would be donated to a drug-related charity of their choosing. Many have speculated that the markets’ closure was a partial exit-scam, several of the sites’ staff members believe it was outright theft of users’ funds.