We recently cautioned customers not to use World Market and instead to utilize any of the other darknet markets right now, and it appears that World Market has been shut down, either by an exit scam or admin stupidity.
There have been multiple reports in the last week of users’ money and withdrawals going missing while using World Market, and while World Market officials have stated that they are looking into it, little has been done.
World Market, on the other hand, has been rebuilt with a whole new look and what appears to be a new backend. This is a remarkable decision because it is almost unheard of for darknet marketplaces to relaunch with a fresh design, let alone a complete backend. Hydra Market, for example, has been running since 2013 with no design modifications.
New World Market design
While no one requested a new design, the market administrator launched a terrible product that may bring the market to a halt for good.
Users quickly discovered that something was missing when World Market was taken down and placed back online with a fresh look just 24 hours ago. That is, if you registered for a World Market account in the previous few months, your account has been deleted, together with all of your messages, orders, and, worst of all, your balance.
Not only that, but all of the images (user avatars, listing images, etc.) have vanished, and all listings currently lack images.
It was stated by the World Market team that users should avoid the market until the database was synced-
Stay off the market till we give the all clear , the database is being synced.
I will be a couple of hours, be patient please.
World Market support warning users to no use World Market
Then just an hour later, again the same staff has warned users to not use World Market.
We are having issue syncing the database.
We will let you know when you can use the market.
2nd message by World Market staff
And now, just 24 hours after the butched relaunch of World Market another message has been posted-
The database sync has failed because of a corrupt backup.
The admin and server teams are working hard to get us back up and running.
I want you to know that I believe in this team and we are working hard to get the market back up and running.
We are in no way trying to exit, and I hope that we get these issues resolved.
At this point, I can not give any timeline.
The last message posted by World Market staff
So it appears that the World Market database is no longer available, which means that any deposits, withdrawals, orders, messages sent, or accounts created in the recent few months are no longer available.
It is unclear why the market is still up if the database has not been updated, or why the bitcoin exchange has been locked on the same number since yesterday (37,296.00 USD), despite the fact that the true price of Bitcoin is currently around 41,000 USD.
With this level of stupidity on the part of World Market admin, it is not surprise that the market has severe security issues. We strongly advise customers to search out alternative darknet markets, such as Versus Market and AlphaBay, in addition to Dark0de Market.
