Skip to main content

Forget Silk Road, Assassination Market is the new ‘deep Web’ nightmare

If you think buying crystal meth online is as bad as the “deep Web” gets, think again. The latest hidden Internet marketplace could be a nightmare for world leaders, or anyone else who happens to make someone angry enough to want them dead – if it’s not just a scam.

Called Assassination Market, the Kickstarter-like website allows users to crowdfund murders through donations of Bitcoin, the anonymous digital currency. The site, which has been up for just four months and is only accessible through the Tor network, currently lists a total of six bounties, all of which target various government officials.

Both Jyrki Tapani Katainen, prime minister of Finland, and French President François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande appear on the list, with ฿1.00 bounties on their heads – or about $645, at current Bitcoin exchange rates. U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper currently has a bid of ฿1.97, while the price on NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander jumps to ฿10.49. The bounties bound to ฿40.26 for President Barack Obama. But it is outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke whom Assassination Market users have pledged the most to see killed – a bounty of ฿124.14, or about $80,000.

Assassination Market
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Speaking under the pseudonym Kuwabatake Sanjuro, Assassination Market’s alleged founder says that he believes, given enough popularity, that his site could lead to enough murdered politicians that no one would dare hold office.

“I believe it will change the world for the better,” he said.

The idea of an anonymous online murder-for-hire system has long been the talk among cypherpunks. As the Daily Dot reports, Assassination Market is only one site on the “deep Web” that markets hitmen. So far, there have been no public reports of these sites leading to anyone’s demise. In fact, many of them could easily be used to scam disgruntled people out of their Bitcoins.

In a bit of related news, Ben Bernanke sent a letter to Congress on Monday in which he says that Bitcoin “may hold long-term promise, particularly if the innovations promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system.” Maybe seeing his name on a hit list will change his tune.

Correction: An earlier version misidentified Jyrki Tapani Katainen as the president of Finland. He is, in fact, the prime minister. We apologize for the error.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
When is Prime Day 2023? Dates confirmed for the shopping event
Best Prime Day 2022 Deals graphic with multiple products.

After weeks of speculation, we finally know when Prime Day 2023 is kicking off. Amazon has announced that the event will start July 11 at 3AM ET and will run through July 12. As always, Prime members can score some fantastic deals from the sale with popular brands like Peloton, Victoria's Secret, YETI, and Sony just some of the names being touted by Amazon as featuring in the big sale. Members will also be able to shop more deals on small business products than ever before too. As always, expect great discounts on Amazon-owned properties like Kindles, Ring doorbells, Amazon Echo units, and so much more. It's the sale we've all been waiting for since Black Friday.

The Prime Day deals promise to drop every 30 minutes during select periods with deep discounts expected. Select discounts on other Amazon-related things are already available such as 20% off in-store purchases at

Read more
Another big sale is happening at the same time as Prime Day
A variety of electronic devices in open boxes.

Target just revealed that Target Circle Week will run from July 9 to July 15, overlapping with Amazon's Prime Day that's scheduled for July 11 to July 12.

The big sale event will be open to members of the retailer's Target Circle loyalty program, who will be able to receive discounts of up to 50% for certain items. If you're not yet a member, don't worry -- you can join at any time, and membership is free. Once you've signed up, you'll be able to earn 1% from every purchase to redeem at a later time, access exclusive deals, and get 5% off for your birthday, among other benefits.

Read more
The best free parental control software for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android
Man using computer.

Everything in this world has gone digital, and that includes homework (if you have kids). If your children are young, you’re probably not giving them laptops or free rein of the family computer yet. You’re also probably not always able to monitor their screen activity, either.

That’s where parental control software comes in handy. Such software helps keep your kids safe from the dark web, and there are usually free options available for all operating systems. Keep reading to find out more.
Built-in OS features
Giving your kids technology designed for their age group is an excellent first step toward keeping them safe online. When they have access to more general computing devices, you can leverage parental control features built right into the operating system. The parental controls for both Windows and macOS provide a convenient and acceptable means for restricting web access and chat functionality, and give parents the ability to view detailed logs and monitor email exchanges.
Microsoft Family Safety

Read more