March 29, 2024

ICO Hydra – comments from law enforcement agencies and experts

ICO Hydra - comments from law enforcement and experts

The darknet marketplace Hydra threatens to revive the long-dormant token sales market. Site managers statedabout plans to conduct an ICO to raise funds for a transnational platform of prohibited goods.

Hydra plans to invest the raised funds in the development of the anonymous AspaNET network, a service for creating HatchService gateways, as well as LocalPoint and GlobalPoint cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

Marketplace initiative has already attracted attentionpower structures. If the project is implemented, the developers will primarily endanger the users of the service, an anonymous law enforcement source said in a comment to ForkLog.

According to him, the technology of communication transmission, created to commit crimes, is equivalent to the use and dissemination of malicious computer programs.

"Users who hosted on their computersgateways to provide anonymous access will break the law. As an example, we can recall the story of mathematician Dmitry Bogatov, who was prosecuted for placing a “node” of a TOR browser. The same goes for cryptocurrency drug exchange services. Legalization of proceeds from crime in the territory of the Russian Federation is criminally punishable ”,- said the source.

He added that legislative responsibilityfor investments in ICOs on the territory of the Russian Federation is not provided, however, taking into account the latest state initiatives to tighten the fight against drug trafficking, it is likely that its financing will be prosecuted by analogy with the financing of terrorism.

“The Hydra ICO project is populist andIt seems like the screams of a wounded beast, as law enforcement agencies carried out a number of measures that complicated the drug trade in the Russian Federation. In general, the initiative of the organizers of the Hydra site is considered absolutely seriously, measures are being taken to prosecute for drug trafficking ”,- said the law enforcement officer.

The source also confirmed that representatives of Hydra provided some assistance in closing the darknet sites RAMP, iKLAD, BlackMarket and Solaris.

Meanwhile, the representatives of the crypto community announced the campaign reminded of trolling the Telegram messenger with its TON blockchain platform.

“As a rule, in the shadow sector, statements aboutserious intentions are carried out with a small share of trolling. From the point of view of the existing legislative framework, Hydra is illegal on the territory of the Russian Federation and other countries, so it’s hard to say whether such an enterprise can be promising ”,— Sergey Simanovsky, ecosystem development manager for the cyber~Congress project, said in a comment to ForkLog.

In his opinion, the risks of ICO campaigns outweigh any potential benefits for investors:

“This is the risk of exit scam, legal risks, and, in fact, the risk of trust in a very narrowly targeted circle of beneficiaries of the site itself. Although like trolling, it’s very cool. ”

The cynicism of the Hydra initiative demonstrates the backwardness of law enforcement agencies to modern technologies, continued the representative of the Internet Protection Society Alexander Isavnin:

"The so-called" law enforcement agencies "so passionate about falsification of criminal cases that they are completely behind the technologies that criminals use. Investigations in the cybersphere are at the mercy of “private policemen” from Group-IB and Kaspersky Lab, and those “investigate” the most profitable ones. As a result, the platforms mature and develop on the darknet, further increasing the technological gap and attracting young talents. ”

Isavnin suggested that instead of searching for criminals, law enforcement officers "in the style of ostriches will hide their heads in the ground," blocking "information."

In turn, Hydra owners will surely take care of ensuring a high degree of anonymity of their tokens, said Artem Kozlyuk, head of the public organization RosKomSvoboda.

“Often, the human factor decides everything. Or the shadow investors themselves will leave digital traces, which can then be compared with their personality, as was the case, for example, in the story with Silk Road. Or, if information about investors is centralized, there will be risks of dumping dirt on individuals. However, the black market lives by its own rules, and its players fully understand all the risks and threats that may arise from participation in such activities ”,- Kozlyuk concluded.

The ICO itself of prohibited sites is possible,precisely because blockchain is a decentralized system. This will allow Hydra investors to remain in the shadows, said advisor Tomashevskaya & Partners, member of the Commission on Legal Support of the Digital Economy of the Moscow Branch of the Russian Bar Association Roman Yankovsky.

According to him, the darknet marketplace is preparing to issue a security token, which is a share in the joint venture. But he, obviously, will not be attached to real securities.

“In this case, investors have a very good chance of not receiving any compensation for these tokens. Investing in these tokens is not only encouraging criminal activity, but also a potential scam, ”- the expert emphasized.

Let us recall that in 2013 the founderdarknet marketplace Silk Road Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to two life prison terms without the possibility of amnesty for money laundering, website hacking and drug trafficking; we published his detailed story earlier.

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