US authorities have imposed sanctions on the operator of a defunct darknet marketplace, seizing his cryptocurrency holdings, which had recently benefited from Bitcoin price fluctuations. 

According to a statement by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on March 4, Iran-based Behrouz Parsarad founded the darknet marketplace Nemesis in 2021. The platform facilitated illegal activities, including drug trafficking, fraudulent identification services, hacking tools, and other cybercriminal operations. 

As a result of these sanctions, US citizens are prohibited from conducting business with Parsarad or any company where he holds a majority stake (over 50%). 

Source: Chainalysis

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis revealed that the sanctioned assets include 44 Bitcoin and five Monero addresses, which collectively received over $850,000 between July 2022 and March 2024. The total cryptocurrency handled by Parsarad exceeded $1.6 million, largely due to price increases. 

While most of Parsarad’s transactions were tied to Nemesis, he also transferred over $12,000 to other darknet platforms such as ASAP Market, Incognito Market, and Next Generation. Additionally, he had indirect involvement with crypto mixers, according to Chainalysis. 

Source: Chainalysis

Before a joint US-German-Lithuanian law enforcement operation seized Nemesis’ servers in March 2024, the marketplace had 30,000 active users and 1,000 vendors. OFAC highlighted that Nemesis had built-in money laundering mechanisms to facilitate illicit transactions. 

“Beyond enabling criminal transactions, Parsarad also laundered virtual currencies for drug traffickers and cybercriminals operating on Nemesis,” OFAC stated. The agency estimates he profited millions of dollars from the platform. 

Bradley T. Smith, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, noted that Parsarad is still attempting to revive the operation. 

Darknet Markets Thrive Despite Crackdowns

Despite enforcement efforts, darknet marketplaces generated over $1.7 billion in revenue in 2024, marking a slight increase from the previous year, according to the TRM Labs 2025 Crypto Crime Report. 

The report highlights that Russian-language darknet markets dominate the industry, primarily due to minimal law enforcement intervention in Russia. In contrast, Western darknet markets have faced increased enforcement pressure and operational challenges. 

In early 2024, several exit scams rattled the Western darknet ecosystem. TRM Labs reported that Bohemia Market and Cannabia Market vanished in January, later revealed to be under Dutch law enforcement investigation. 

By March, Incognito Market collapsed amid suspicions of an exit scam. According to TRM Labs, the administrator, known as "Pharoah," allegedly tried to extort users before shutting down the platform.