Atlas Darknet Market and Proof of Life

I went over Atlas Market admins going silent and what that meant for users. After Paris posted a warning on Dread about Atlas staff inactivity, I reached out to verify what was happening. Got confirmation that Hourglass, who handled disputes and tickets, was hospitalized and MIA. The remaining admins were dealing with the backlog.

But this situation highlights key points about darknet market security. Even with signed messages from admins, you can't guarantee who's really behind them. Law enforcement could maintain access to seized systems. This is why market structure typically limits admin access levels - someone handling support won't have full backend privileges.

When unknowns pop up in OPSEC, you have to assume worst case scenarios. If someone goes dark, whether they're dead, arrested, or compromised - you need to act accordingly and clean house. Everything beyond direct signed messages is speculation, and even those messages aren't guaranteed proof of anything.

  -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

I want to acknowledge that the past few days have been particularly hectic for Atlas.

As many of you may know, our admin, /u/Hourglass, has been missing for nearly a week. He was primarily responsible for managing disputes and handling tickets, which has left me and Potion as the only active admins at this time. Unfortunately, I was out of town and unaware of the critical situation unfolding.

I want to share that Hourglass informed me he was hospitalized due to a serious health issue, and I have not heard from him since. We are concerned for his well-being. We do not know if he is dead, MIA or in custody.

In the meantime, Potion and I will do our best to address all tickets and disputes as efficiently as possible, but please bear with us as it may take some time to catch up.

I will keep you updated here and will share any news regarding Hourglass as soon as we receive it. Thank you for your understanding and support during this challenging time.

Signed by Shared Atlas Admins PGP key (/pgp.txt)
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