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A Comprehensive Guide to the Revolution Market

This guide will teach you all you need to know about connecting to Revolution Market on the darknet.

Revolution Market, which will open for business in April 2021, is a smaller darknet market that claims to have been “built by activists.” The market requires PGP encryption for all chat, supports Monero (XMR), and says it intends to become a Monero-only market in the future, but for the time being accepts deposits via BTC for multisig transaction purposes. Because 2-FA is enabled by default, you’ll need to decrypt a message each time you log into the market after uploading your PGP key.

Revolution Market currently has less than 2,500 listings, making it one of the lesser darknet markets in operation. Vendors appear to be concentrated in the EU and UK regions, though we did come across a handful that were ready to ship globally. The market layout is a cross between the traditional AlphaBay concept and additional elements from other marketplaces. Unfortunately, it is still severely problematic and appears to have a long way to go before it can provide a clean user experience.

The fact that Revolution claims to distribute the entire month’s commissions to 10 users every fourth month is one of the first positives about it. This is a fantastic approach to reward market members for their loyalty while also attracting new ones to join, but it is nearly impossible to check the legitimacy of this statement. Another intriguing aspect is that the vendor bond is roughly $100 cheaper for suppliers who prefer to pay in XMR, making it significantly lower ($115) than in most other darknet markets.

We can see that Revolution tries to look out for their buyers a little more than other marketplaces by making it simple to discover which merchants have been banned or have earned warnings due to lost arguments or other reasons. They also present a list of scammy actions that vendors occasionally attempt to deploy for the education of their buyers and do everything in their power to discourage sellers from taking their clients off the market. We didn’t use their Dispute system (it’s usually a good idea to avoid getting to this point in the first place), so we can’t say how honest the market is, but they seem more fair-minded than most others.

Fundamentals of the Revolution Market

  • Cryptocurrencies accepted: Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR)
  • Total Product/Service listings: 3,400
  • Listing Categories: Carded Goods, Counterfeit Goods, Digital Goods, Drugs, Fraud, Guides, Metals, Misc Goods, Security & Hosting, Services, Software & Malware
  • Multi-signature escrow? Yes
  • Finalize Early? Yes
  • Cost of vendor bond: ~$215 in BTC or ~$115 in XMR

Prior to Beginning

Before attempting to use Revolution Market or any other darknet market, you need have at least a basic awareness of the following concepts:

  • The Tor browser. Installing the latest version of the Tor browser is a must before using Revolution or any darknet market. It’s also imperative that you disable JavaScript before signing up and logging in, which can be done via changing the Settings configuration.
  • Cryptocurrency transacting. You must also know how to send and receive cryptocurrency before attempting to use Revolution Market, chiefly as how these concepts apply to Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR). We recommend using XMR whenever possible because of its obfuscated blockchain, but if you insist on using BTC, make sure you send it to the market straight from a mixer (rather than a personal wallet or exchange, which you should never do).
  • PGP encryption. As Revolution Market forces PGP encryption, knowing how to use PGP is a must. Familiarize yourself with how to import certificates (public keys), encrypt messages, and decrypt messages with your own PGP private key before attempting to use any darknet market. This will save you a lot of headache and hassle down the road, and possibly your freedom as well.

Disclaimer: This guide is intended for research purposes only and should not be taken as legal or other advice. The authors of this handbook do not support unlawful conduct in your jurisdiction or others. At your own risk, use the information of this tutorial and/or Revolution Market.

Making an Account

To make an account at Revolution, simply click the “create” button on the main login screen (it is in the top line of the welcome text). The account creation procedure is rather simple.

Simply create a unique username that is unrelated to your personal or other online identities, a unique password that is entered twice (we recommend a random combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols), a PIN number of 4-8 digits that is also entered twice (for confirming purchases), and a Private Code (4 digits recommended to keep it easy to remember). After that, solve the captcha and click the “Join the Revolution” option. If everything was typed successfully and your username was not already in use, you will be sent back to the login screen.

To log in this time, enter your freshly established username and password (together with the captcha). When you initially log in, you’ll be given a long string of characters that will function as your account mnemonic. This is used to regain access to your account if you are locked out of it for any reason.

Copy the mnemonic and store it somewhere safe before pasting it into the box below. After that, click “Enter The Revolution.” You’ll be logged in and ready to start browsing the market. Please keep in mind that you will not be able to place orders until you have configured your PGP key, which we will cover in more detail below.

However, before you set the PGP key, you should go through the additional steps required by Revolution to guarantee you get a copy of their true PGP key and fingerprint. You’ll need this information to authenticate new market mirrors if the existing one fails. This is the best approach to avoid signing up for a phishing site aimed to steal your money.

To begin, click the highlighted links in the screenshot and save their contents to a text document. In your PGP utility, import the PGP key (such as Kleopatra or GPG). Following that, copy and save the Canary Link. Revolution updates this message on a daily basis to demonstrate that they still control the market. Click on it, copy the signed message’s contents, and practice confirming it with your PGP application. Verifying the message against the PGP key you just imported for Revolution should result in a valid market signature. This should be done whenever you want to use a new mirror for Revolution Market.

Then, click on the “Revolution Mirrors” link. Copy and save the links now because this is your finest opportunity to collect alternative links for this market (you should never try to get them from random places on the internet as they are most likely phishing links). Then, check the box next to “I understand.”, enter the captcha, and click “Submit.” You will be returned to the Settings page, where a yellow bar with the words “Thank you” will appear. You are now ready to create your own Revolution PGP key.

Making a PGP Key

When you initially log in to Revolution Market, you’ll notice a yellow bar under the menu options that says “You are now part of the Revolution, for your own safety please click account and enter your PGP key.” The menu item “Account” lies directly above the word “Revolution” (currently mis-spelled on the site). Click it to begin creating a PGP key. A profile box with your username will appear in the upper-left corner of the Account menu.

Select “click to add” next to “PGP:”. You will be taken to your Profile page. We recommend leaving the first text box (Profile text) blank to avoid potentially jeopardizing your OpSec by providing personal information. Scroll down to the “PGP Public Key” text box instead. This is where you’ll paste your PGP public key, which other market participants will use to encrypt interactions with you. When completed correctly, it should appear like this:

Fill out the captcha below and then click “Save Changes.” If everything is done correctly, your PGP key will be instantly associated to your account, and the page will refresh with a new message in green that states “We have saved the modifications made.”

It’s worth noting that once you’ve attached your PGP key, you’ll have to decrypt a message with the paired private key every time you want to enter the market. As a result, it’s critical to get it properly the first time. If you’re not sure, log out and back in before making your first deposit. When logging in, make sure you just paste the Security Code part of the decrypted message.

Making a Down Payment

Unless you’re placing a BTC Multisig order (which most vendors do not support), you’ll need to fund your account first, as Revolution uses the standard market escrow mechanism. To avoid a big loss if the market suddenly disappears, we recommend just depositing enough funds to support one order at a time (for whatever reason). We also encourage using Monero whenever possible, and for the purposes of this post, we shall demonstrate an XMR deposit.

To make a deposit, first navigate to the “Wallet” menu item, which is located in the center of the top menu bar. Scroll down to where it says Monero Deposit and follow the instructions.

Your XMR deposit address is a long string of digits and letters that begins with a “4”. To send it, copy and paste it into your personal Monero wallet (never send XMR straight from an exchange). You can also use a mobile device to make a payment by scanning the QR code shown above. XMR deposits require 10 network confirmations before they display in your account balance, which takes at least 20 minutes.

Exploring Revolution Market

Although there is a search bar at the top of each screen, Revolution is not the easiest market to navigate. Only after selecting a category will a collection of subcategories and a series of search filters (including ships from/to, FE-enabled, price range, XMR accepted, and seller last spotted) surface. The following listing categories (and subcategories) are hosted on Revolution Market:

  • Carded Goods (Clothing, Digital, Electronic, Jewelry, Other)
  • Counterfeit Goods (Designer Clothing, Electronics, Fake ID, Fake Money, Misc Counterfeit Items)
  • Digital Goods (Ebooks, Digital Software, Fraud Software, Games, Misc Software)
  • Drugs (Alcohol, Benzos, Cannabis & Hashish, Dissociatives, Ecstasy, Opioids, Other Drugs, Paraphernalia, Prescription, Psychedelics, Steroids, Stimulants, Tobacco)
  • Fraud (Accounts, CCV & Cards, Dumps, Misc Fraud, Scans)
  • Guides (Drug Guides, Fraud Guides, Hacking Guides, Misc Guides)
  • Metals (Gold, Jewels, Misc Metals, Silver)
  • Misc Goods
  • Security & Hosting (Hosting, Socks, VPN)
  • Services (Misc Services, Social Engineering, Tutorial Services)
  • Software & Malware (Botnets, Exploits, Kits, Malware, Security Software, Trojans)

Because Revolution is still less than a year old, several of these category contain only a few listings, and some have none at all. As with other darknet markets, the most popular category is Drugs, with Cannabis & Hashish as the most popular subcategory. Opioids are the second most common. Revolution has prohibited the sale of fentanyl and its analogs, knowing that there is a worldwide crackdown on these narcotics, particularly in the Americas (US and Canada). When you click on a listing, you’ll get more information on the product:

Here we can see the following:

  • Short description
  • Quantity Left
  • FE enabled
  • XMR accepted
  • Order type
  • Price in BTC and XMR
  • Vendor name, listing date and vendor level
  • Shipping options

Below this are tabs providing:

  • Item description
  • Item feedback
  • Item return policy

It is advised that you read through these tabs before placing your first order with a vendor. This will provide you with a better understanding of what to expect during the delivery process. Some sellers, for example, are extremely picky about where they will ship to, while others have specific shipping information requirements. Before placing an order with a seller, you should also review their profile. To do so, locate the vendor’s name near the top of the item screen, below the item photo, and next to the words “Sold by.”

Here we observe a vendor that is new to the market but has experience in at least five other marketplaces (for example, we can see that they amassed 1582 feedbacks from White House Market, and more from four others). Despite having no sales on Revolution Market, this makes them a Level 5 seller. We can also see that the vendor is untrustworthy, does not support FE, and has had no disputes or warnings. Below these statistics is a button that can be pressed to write them a message, as well as see their entire PGP key (which is displayed immediately to the right) and additional listings.

If you intend to place an order with this vendor, you must copy and paste their PGP key into your PGP utility (such as Kleopatra or GPG) in order to encrypt any communications sent to them. Scrolling down a little more shows further relevant information about the vendor. Keep in mind that each vendor has their own set of criteria for how they do business and what they expect from their clients. That is why it is a good idea to read through this information before placing your first order with them.

Making a Purchase

To place an order, first ensure that you are on the listing page by clicking on the title of the listing. Following that, choose your shipment method and quantity. The majority of sellers will have “Buy Now” buttons for both BTC and XMR. Because we always encourage utilizing XMR, we shall use that option for the purposes of this demonstration.

Then, click the XMR “Buy Now” button. Make sure the “XMR” option is set to “Yes” rather than “No.” Then, below the “Continue to Confirmation” button, click on the plus sign next to “Vendor (name) PGP Key.” This will disclose the vendor’s PGP key, which you will need to copy and paste into your PGP utility. Use this key to encrypt your shipment information, and the screen should look like this when everything is correct:

Finally, for XMR orders, be sure to pick “Regular escrow” and then click “Continue to Confirmation.” Take note of how the pricing information has been converted from quantity in BTC to XMR.

Following the click of the “Submit Order” button, the Order Total will be withdrawn from your account balance, and the vendor will be alerted to begin preparing it for delivery. It should be noted that the vendor has three days to ship the order. If they do not complete it by then, the order will be cancelled and the cash will be returned to your account. If you use a FE-enabled vendor, you will be prompted to mark the order as Finalized once it has been marked as Shipped by the vendor. Otherwise, hold off on delivering cash to the vendor until you receive the order and determine it to be satisfactory.

You can open a Dispute if you do not receive the item or if it does not meet your expectations. This will halt the distribution of funds and give you the opportunity to explain what happened to a dispute moderator. The vendor will also be given the opportunity to explain their side of the story, and the moderator will make a decision based on all available evidence.

If the item arrives and everything is as expected, mark the order as Finalized and release the monies from escrow to the vendor. This is regarded proper darknet market etiquette and is required if you intend to be a vendor’s returning customer.

Revolution Market URL: http://jagayshovxfjqpk4vs6cdjv5qbuyftrr57e5l4kwazmbyemjcasrwaqd.onion

Summary

Revolution Market, while being less than a year old, appears to be a credible darknet market business, even if it has been slow to recruit consumers. There are some well-known vendor names on the market, with feedback imported from a number of others, yet customers may be put off by the inefficient order placement procedure (which seems overly buggy at the moment). The central account and deposit mechanism is also a deterrent because it raises the payoff for an exit scam or other form of hacking incident, however this issue can be avoided by just holding enough coins to fund one purchase at a time.

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