US authorities have sanctioned Behrouz Parsarad, the Iran-based operator of the now-defunct darknet marketplace Nemesis, along with his associated crypto addresses, which recently benefited from Bitcoin price fluctuations.
According to a 4 March statement from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Parsarad launched Nemesis in 2021 to facilitate the sale of drugs, counterfeit identification documents, hacking tools, and other illicit services for cybercriminals.
Under the sanctions, US citizens are prohibited from conducting transactions with Parsarad or any entity in which he holds a majority stake.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis identified 44 Bitcoin addresses and five Monero addresses linked to sanctioned property, which collectively received over $850,000 between July 2022 and March 2024.
Parsarad’s total cryptocurrency transactions exceed $1.6 million, a figure Chainalysis attributes to price appreciation.
While most of his transaction volume was tied to Nemesis, he also funnelled over $12,000 to other darknet marketplaces, including ASAP Market, Incognito Market, and Next Generation, with signs of indirect exposure to crypto mixers.
Designated addresses for Parsarad have direct exposure to several mainstream exchanges and DNMs according to Chainalysis’s report
Before a US-German-Lithuanian law enforcement operation seized its servers in March 2024, Nemesis reportedly had 30,000 active users, 1,000 vendors, and built-in money laundering mechanisms, according to OFAC.
OFAC said:
“In addition to providing criminals with a platform to conduct transactions, Parsarad laundered virtual currencies for narcotics traffickers and cybercriminals active on Nemesis.”
Authorities estimate Parsarad earned millions during the marketplace’s operation, and Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith warned that he is actively attempting to revive the illicit platform.
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