Empire Market Co-Creator Sentenced to 40 Years Over $430M Dark Web Bazaar

Written and edited by the WorldPing NewsdeskPublished Updated Original reporting: Decrypt
Empire Market Co-Creator Sentenced to 40 Years Over $430M Dark Web BazaarWorldPing
Image via Decrypt.

What happened

Raheim Hamilton forfeited some 1,230 BTC.

His co-creator Thomas Pavey, who agreed to forfeit 1,584 BTC, is due to be sentenced this month.

Key facts

  • Raheim Hamilton forfeited some 1,230 BTC.
  • His co-creator Thomas Pavey, who agreed to forfeit 1,584 BTC, is due to be sentenced this month.
  • Reported by Decrypt and published Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:11:51 UTC.

Why it matters

Digital-asset markets react to catalysts within minutes, and liquidity, ETF flows and regulatory signals are usually what decide whether a move sticks.

What to watch next

  • Whether spot volume and open interest confirm the move
  • Liquidation clusters around the current price
  • ETF flow data and any regulatory follow-up

Coverage timeline

When each newsroom published on this story, oldest first — all times UTC.

  1. David Gross Warns Nuclear War Odds Have Doubled, Putting the Next 50 Years in Doubt

  2. Dark web drug market operator sentenced to 40 years, forfeits $101 million in bitcoin

  3. Strategy’s $150 million-a-day STRC market has a hidden dependency on its own buybacks

  4. Empire Market Co-Creator Sentenced to 40 Years Over $430M Dark Web Bazaar

Sources

The original report was published by Decrypt. WorldPing does not claim that reporting — this page summarises and contextualises it.

Read the full report at Decrypt

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