According to an announcement by the administrator of Joker’s Stash, the longest-running marketplace for stolen credit cards on the darknet is shutting down. The admin known as “Jokerstash” stated that “it’s time for us to leave forever.” Stash’s users could spend their account balances until Feb. 15, before the admin proceeds to “wipe all our servers and backups.” According to a security research firm, the darknet website Generated Over $1 Billion in bitcoin over the past years. 

The admin did not reveal the motivation behind shutting down the website.

The darknet marketplace’s admin made it clear that they will “never ever open again.” However, the admin didn’t provide more details on the motivation behind the closure. According to the figures revealed by Gemini Advisory, the site has been one of the most profitable marketplaces on the darknet. Over the past years, Joker’s Stash generated more than $1 billion in bitcoin revenue, said the report. Although the admin’s announcement didn’t reveal details on the reasons behind the decision, Gemini Advisory has some hypotheses. One of them is the recent bitcoin’s price spike across the markets, as Jokerstash is an early bitcoin advocate.

German authorities shut down the world’s largest darknet marketplace. 

Earlier, German authorities shut down the world’s largest darknet marketplace in a joint operation supported by Europol, a law enforcement agency of the European Union. The illegal marketplace vendors were involved in nearly $170 million worth of transactions, including the transfer of 4,650 Bitcoin and 12,800 Monero. According to the official announcement by Europol, the darknet marketplace involved more than 500,000 users, including 2,400 vendors. The sellers on the darknet marketplace used Bitcoin and other privacy coins to transfer funds obtained by trading drugs.