Tochka Market is a legacy darknet marketplace that first began operating in 2014. Over time, it established a significant presence in the darknet ecosystem, but it was shut down in 2019. Surprisingly, the market reopened in 2023 under unusual circumstances, allowing users to access their original accounts and any remaining funds. Today, the market remains only a small shadow of its former self, with just a few vendors and a limited number of listings. Keep in mind that the following review will cover the new, relaunched Tochka Market, although it remains mostly identical to the original.
Brief Tochka Market History
First launched in 2014, Tochka Market slowly grew to become a prominent marketplace, amassing thousands of registered users. The market existed for several years and was considered reliable up until its 2019 shutdown. Operated and managed by a user going by the name earthling, the market reportedly had multiple staff members tied to Wall Street Market. This was revealed by the staff themselves, as a large portion of them were arrested around the time of the market’s shutdown. Tochka translates to “point” in Russian, and Point is what Tochka eventually rebranded to, before later reverting back to its original name.
Where Things Get Weird
Three years ago, /u/earthling’s account on Dread made a post claiming that despite earthling being raided and ending up in prison, all of the market’s data had remained safe and secure. The post went on to state that the market would be enabled by IPFS, which would supposedly make it much more reliable. Additionally, and perhaps the most surprising claim was that the market would retain all original data, meaning users who had accounts with deposited funds could not recover them.
The message was signed with the original Tochka PGP key, but it is suspicious nonetheless. Considering that the administrator ended up in prison and many staff members were also prosecuted, some have questioned whether the announcement could be a massive honeypot. What if authorities wanted people to attempt withdrawals to assist with investigations? It’s difficult to know for certain, and this suspicion may be why, three years after the announcement, the market remains a shell of its former self with barely any activity.
Design & Framework
The Tochka Market we have today is virtually identical to the original, featuring the same minimal, old-school UI. It’s nothing special—some would say it’s outdated, while others would argue that there are newer markets with even more minimal and outdated interfaces.
What makes Tochka different is that its framework was always open-sourced and available for anyone to download. The market was built using Go, and anyone could download its source code and spin up an instance on their own computer.
Payments & Purchases
Purchases on Tochka can be made with four cryptocurrencies: Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR), and Polkadot (DOT). Funds can be pre-deposited into built-in account wallets or sent directly when placing an order. Orders are protected by traditional escrow. While Tochka Market supports dead drops, there are currently no active listings using this feature.
Security & Privacy
Tochka Market can be secure when proper OPSEC protocols are followed, such as always using PGP and limiting payments to privacy coins like Monero. PGP support is available and can be used both for message encryption and 2FA. A critical point to note is that, although the market does not require PGP or 2FA during registration, these features must be manually enabled immediately after the first login. If a user fails to do so, the account will be lost, as non-2FA logins are disabled.
The Reality of Tochka Market
On paper, Tochka Market could be a trusted and secure marketplace. It has a long-standing legacy and maintains one of the most subscribed subreddits of any darknet market to date. However, despite these advantages, it struggles to compete with newer, smaller markets with only 3 vendors and a handful of listings. The truth is, no one can be certain if the market can truly be trusted. The circumstances surrounding its relaunch are suspicious, and in the darknet, suspicion alone is enough to severely impact your operations.
0 Comments