The U.S. Federal Court has handed down a heavy sentence to Rui-Siang Lin, the founder of the “Incognito Market,” for operating an online dark web drug trafficking platform based on cryptocurrency. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and confiscated $105,045,109 in illegal proceeds. This case is regarded as one of the most serious law enforcement actions against “cryptocurrency dark web drug markets” in recent years.
According to the Southern District of New York Prosecutor’s Office, Incognito Market operated from October 2020 until its shutdown in March 2024. Relying on a cryptocurrency payment system and an internal transfer mechanism called “Incognito Bank,” it provided anonymous trading services to users worldwide. The platform facilitated over 640,000 transactions, with a total value exceeding $105 million. It had more than 400,000 registered buyers and over 1,800 sellers.
Investigations revealed that the illegal items sold on the platform were primarily drugs, including heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, methamphetamine, ketamine, alprazolam, and counterfeit prescription medications. Many “oxycodone” products were actually fentanyl, which directly caused at least one death and affected hundreds of thousands of families.
Judge Colleen McMahon stated during sentencing that Rui-Siang Lin’s actions constituted a “transnational digital drug empire,” emphasizing his use of blockchain’s anonymity features to conceal the flow of criminal funds. Prosecutors also disclosed that before the platform was shut down, Lin embezzled user funds and attempted to blackmail users by threatening to expose transaction records.
This case also echoes recent law enforcement actions against “cryptocurrency money laundering on the dark web,” including asset seizures of Helix mixers and BidenCash black market. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will continue to strengthen regulation and crack down on “dark web cryptocurrency crimes,” “Bitcoin money laundering channels,” and anonymous payment systems.
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