For months, we’ve reported how Darknet Marketplace Bohemia has been having withdrawal issues and an almost entirely inactive marketplace. It seems the issue persists as Dread admins step in and labels the site a likely exit scam until the Bohemia staff sort out the situation.
The End Of An Era
Although the Bohemia market is relatively young for a website opening shop in 2021, the darknet market has been making waves since its inception, boasting over 10,000 listings spanning various categories and connecting vendors from all corners of the globe. It’s been people’s favorite, but recent developments are raising eyebrows.
But since August 2023, frustrations around the market have grown. The website went offline for a short period; it returned with the Captcha system on the login screen failing to appear; therefore, users couldn’t log in to their vendor/ customer profiles. This naturally brought enough attention for some Vendors to pack their bags and move shop.
While the capture issue was eventually solved for those with direct links, the overall operation of the site has dwindled drastically. Withdrawal reports have multiplied, and since we reported on this issue last, not only has LiveDarknet received multiple complaints, but the Dread Forum is filled with users raising their concerns over the marketplace. As with any “On-site wallet”-based darknet marketplace, this is a major concern that shouldn’t be dealt with lightly.
Support is completely useless. They are acting like it is a Monero issue when I have clearly said multiple times in multiple replies how it is bitcoin. Then I say “hey I just made a bitcoin withdraw” so ignore that one and they send me the text id for that very same withdrawal. No one is this retarded. It seems they know what i am talking about but don’t want to address the issue. To me that kind of suggests that they know low level skimming is going on that they don’t want to address. Vendors I would very closely follow each finalization and make sure the funds go to your wallet and make sure the funds stay in your wallet until you withdraw.
http://g66ol3eb5ujdckzqqfmjsbpdjufmjd5nsgdipvxmsh7rckzlhywlzlqd.onion/post/52d1bc385da7706b311a
When we last looked at Bohemia Market, we concluded with “Don’t Use Bohemia: Don’t Lose Faith In Bohemia Yet” Unfortunately, it seems their time is up. It feels like a more elaborate exit scam that’s continued for months. The admins have gone through and closed multiple support tickets by multiple buyers/vendors. While some vendors do receive their funds, other times they don’t. It’s still confusing but as Dark.Fail put it
“ALERT: Bohemia is delaying most fund withdrawals in an apparent ponzi scheme. Dread’s admin theorized that their wallet was drained, and they are trying to salvage the situation by selectively allowing loud users to withdraw funds.”
Dread Admin Says “Market’s Wallet Was Drained”
After disappearing for a solid month, Dread co-founder and admin /u/HugBunter issued a major alert regarding Bohemia. In his Dread post titled “PSA: Bohemia on-going issues.”
As HugBunter would admit in his post, the warning about Bohemia was way overdue. He explains the gravity of the situation is big, and he’s concerned over Bohemia’s users. Since he felt the situation was dire, u/HugBunter would both address the issue, and ensure the post remains as a site-wide announcement, until issues are “reasonably” solved.
“As of right now, Bohemia is still experiencing some serious issues with their Withdrawals, while the rest of the site remains functional, which means of course, money is going in and not all of it is making it back out.
Now, usually, this is a sign of an exit scam and that becomes clear pretty quickly, but with how long this has been going on and with a lot of reports of large amounts of money making it back to vendors, it could go either way. I think it is justified right now to put out this warning, so at the very least users are wary of it, but I do believe Bohemia is attempting to rectify everything.”
HugBunter went on to explain his reasoning regarding the announcement and that the complaints far outweigh the support of the market. He did admit it’s not clear enough yet to call this an exit scam and even suggests his own theory regarding the situation: a potential wallet drain due to a bug or similar issue.
“My own theory as to what has happened here, based on info I’ve received and the issues that we are seeing, is that there is a chance that the market’s wallet was drained at some point due to a bug or similar. It would explain the withdrawal issues and means that the market is processing withdrawals as and when deposits are made to try and recover over time. While this isn’t great, if that is the case, then they could and probably would have ran with whatever they could by now, however, as I said, it seems they are trying to make good and continue the market. Bare in mind, this is my own speculation too.”
Either way, the admin has fallen off the face of the earth, and HugBunter claimed he was trying to reach out to the admin who is usually very responsive, yet he hasn’t heard from him in some time.
Since it’s beginning, Bohemia has had a solid track record with consistent uptime, few reports, an active staff system, and help for the Darknet Market community. But some things have switched recently.
Dread Drama
Interestingly enough, the darknet community was not entirely happy with HugBunter’s handling of the situation. Soon after the post went up one Bohemia Co-Admin returned to explain that some details were conveniently left out and that this was not okay for HugBunter to post.
Other user condemned HugBunter for leaving “the writing on the wall” by not calling this an exit scam, despite its obvious signs. There were many comments from both ends. The main issue being that HugBunter is extremely influential in the Darknet world. His opinion and points matter, so it’s possible a post like this could turn an admin trying to sort out the situation into one who gives up and exit scams. The comments ran rampant enough for HugBunter to create an entirely new post addressing the situation.
“Regarding marketplace warnings
It is absolutely stupid that I have to even spend my time writing up this post, because of the idiocy of the minority who would suggest that the way I am handling a warning for a market is incorrect.
Not only is that not your choice, but this is how it has always been handled and is a delicate matter. I will NEVER weigh in on something with my opinion behind it, unless it is 100% fact. The only comments I can ever make are from a neutral stand point, based on evidence at hand. I CANNOT call an exit scam when that isn’t clear. I CAN warn and explain of on-going issues, while they remain unresolved. It is down to you as a user to make your choices, I’m not here to do that for you. I’m also not here to sit under pressure of the community, trying to force my hand to make a decision that could ultimately fall back on me when it is deemed as the wrong decision.
All of my decisions are based on the evidence that is public and also everything behind the scenes that I am able to oversee, between conversations with market staff, or lack of. As for the current situation, I believe everyone should avoid Bohemia.
He addressed further issues and ended the post by saying
“My decisions could quite easily back someone into a corner and feel they have no choice but to exit scam, the matters are delicate, think about the grand scheme of things before suggesting what I should or shouldn’t do. I’ve been doing this a long time and while I don’t always make the right call, these are informed decisions with the consequences considered.
Any further complaints and you can go fuck yourself, I’ve got more important things to be doing than responding to complaints when I’ve already put a warning out.“
Conclusion: This is GoodBye To Bohemia
Bohemia’s reputation is broken. Some users have received up to three times what they’re meant to, others have lost out. Whether it’s a bug gone wrong that’s destroyed their reputation or what Bohemia stood as, their flawless reputation now stands with a big black mark on it. Unfortunately, we are determining this as an Exit scam.
Hey there, I’m a dark web geek who’s been around for the last 8 years. More precisely, I’m livedarknet’s senior content writer who’s been writing about darknet marketplaces, tutorials, and cybersecurity stuff for educational purposes.