Over $105 Million Through Crypto: How “Pharaoh” Was Caught by U.S. Authorities

The founder of the darknet marketplace Incognito Market was sentenced in the United States to 30 years in prison for organizing one of the largest online drug-trading platforms in recent years. The court found that tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency passed through this market, and the platform itself became a полноценный “supermarket” of запрещенных substances in the dark web.

The case involves Rui-Siang Lin, a 24-year-old citizen of Taiwan, who operated Incognito Market under the псевдоним “Pharaoh.” According to U.S. prosecutors, he was responsible for creating, administering, and maintaining the infrastructure of the platform, which operated from October 2020 through March 2024.

During that period, Incognito Market processed more than $105 million in illegal cryptocurrency transactions. The platform handled over 640,000 transactions, and investigators estimate that hundreds of thousands of buyers worldwide used the marketplace. It offered a wide range of drugs – from stimulants and psychotropic substances to synthetic opioids, which remain one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

U.S. authorities emphasize that Incognito Market was not just another darknet shop, but a full-scale international system with developed logistics, internal payment and anonymization mechanisms, and support for cryptocurrency settlements. The use of digital assets allowed participants to bypass the traditional financial system, conceal the origin of funds, and carry out cross-border payments without bank oversight.

Lin himself pleaded guilty to the main charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering. The court classified his activities as a criminal scheme aimed at the systematic distribution of illegal substances and the legalization of profits through cryptocurrency.

Special attention in the case was given to how law enforcement identified the administrator of the platform. Investigators claim that Lin was traced through blockchain analysis, undercover controlled purchases, and digital footprints left during domain registrations. According to prosecutors, the registration data included his real name, phone number, and physical address – a rare mistake for someone building a business on anonymity.

Case materials also state that Incognito Market’s activity contributed to at least one death and worsened the opioid crisis, which remains one of the largest social catastrophes in the United States in recent years. Prosecutors подчеркнули that such platforms directly fuel the overdose epidemic by making the most dangerous substances more accessible.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered the confiscation of all illegal доходов obtained by Lin. This involves tens of millions of dollars earned through cryptocurrency transactions. These funds are expected to be placed under U.S. government control and likely added to the state reserves of seized digital assets.

The Incognito Market case has become another signal to the darknet ecosystem: despite anonymization technologies, cryptocurrency payments, and closed networks, law enforcement agencies are increasingly using blockchain analytics and digital intelligence to identify organizers of such markets.

The sentence against “Pharaoh” shows that the era of complete impunity in the darknet is gradually coming to an end, and large crypto-based drug markets are becoming a priority target for international investigations.