DarkOwl Review Finds Apollon Market Activity Surged After Rival Market Closures
Summary
DarkOwl analyzed archived Apollon data covering 35,028 listings and 1,761 vendor accounts, reporting estimated market value of $10.9 million and a surge in vendor activity after rival markets closed or were seized.
Key points
- DarkOwl’s analysis covered 35,028 unique listings across 1,761 vendor accounts, spanning drugs, digital goods, fraud, and malware.
- The report estimated Apollon’s total value at about $10.99 million, based on reported sales and listing values at the exchange rates used in the analysis.
- Vendor registrations nearly doubled after Nightmare Market’s July 2019 exit scam; Apollon recorded 390 new vendors in December 2019 after Cryptonia disappeared.
- Drugs made up the largest listing category; DarkOwl reported that psychoactive stimulants were among the highest-demand and highest-revenue drug categories.
- The report found revenue was highly skewed: the top 10 vendors accounted for an estimated $1.6 million in sales, while 14% of vendors reported no sales.
- DarkOwl cautioned that listings were duplicated or miscategorized and that Apollon administrators were deactivating listings and manipulating vendor login data during the exit scam.
Article Details
- Publisher
- DarkOwl
- Report Period
- March 2018–late 2019; the article also discusses the exit-scam warning on January 31, with no year specified
- Scope
- DarkOwl Vision analysis of Apollon Market listings, vendor accounts, reported sales, revenue, and vendor activity
- Sample Size
- 35,028 unique listings across 1,761 vendor accounts
- Key Statistics
- DarkOwl estimated the market's total value at $10,986,561, based on reported sales and the value of listings at the exchange rates used in the analysis.
- The average reported revenue per vendor was $6,249, compared with a median of $933.25.
- The top 10 vendors by sales revenue had an estimated $1.6 million in total sales; 14% of vendors reported no sales.
- Apollon registered 390 new vendors in December 2019, its largest monthly increase, following Cryptonia's disappearance.
- DarkOwl reported more than 44,000 drug listings, noting that listings were duplicative and sometimes miscategorized.
Products
Countries
GermanyOf the 75% of listings that do provide a country of origin, 57% of the vendors claimed their goods or services originated within the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.NetherlandsOf the 75% of listings that do provide a country of origin, 57% of the vendors claimed their goods or services originated within the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.United KingdomOf the 75% of listings that do provide a country of origin, 57% of the vendors claimed their goods or services originated within the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.United StatesOf the 75% of listings that do provide a country of origin, 57% of the vendors claimed their goods or services originated within the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.