Marketplace Merge: DarkBay & Andromeda
Posted by: DeepDotWeb
May 1, 2014
Well this something we never had so far, Darkbay (formerly known as UltraVioletCity) is one of the markets that existed for the last few months, surviving the frequent changes of the DNM scene, and Andromeda is a new market existing only a few weeks (Was called Silk Road 3 than changed its name to Andromeda) today the DarkBay market admins placed a notice on the sites homepage letting everyone know that:
1. The market will cease its operation
2. It will let everyone withdraw their BTC before shutting down (BMR Style)
3. Announced that one of the new marketplaces – Andromeda – Was created by Darkbay team members.
4. Said that Darkbay will be completely migrated into Andromeda – accounts, feedback’s, products etc…
5. Encouraged the users to move their business to Andromeda (Remember to be extra careful when/if migrating to a new market – always prefer Multisig marketplaces!)
6. Announced that he will no longer be admin of either one of those two markets.
According to LostTemple’s (Darkbay admin) announcement its sound more like Darkbay was purchased by Andromeda (Or lost its team members to them?) but the real reason for this is not clear yet, and those things i mentioned in the previous sentence were just guesses.
Anyway, doing such move in a respected way without just disappearing and stealing everyone’s funds – especially in the current reality, is a noble thing to do.
This is the notice from the homepage:
DarkBay Closure – May 1st 2014
Hi everyone,
DarkBay has had an incredible few months but we must now come to an end. Since the beginning we were committed to being an honest marketplace; we made a promise that we would move Heaven and Earth to ensure that no BTC would ever be stolen. Today, we make good on that promise. Today we show that the deep web does not have to be riddled with shady admins and unreputable vendors. DarkBay was a sanctuary where free and open trade could happen and that is how we hope to be remembered. The idea of what we have created here outlives you and I. An idea cannot be subpoenaed, coerced into cooperation or DDoS’d to oblivion. It is infinite, and so are we.
I strongly believe that DarkBay represents the liberty that we should all have, but sadly the one which we have been starved of. DarkBay had a large amount of successful transactions and hopefully provided a lot of joy to people’s lives. To everyone who had the faith to trust DarkBay, you mean the world to me. I strongly believe that DarkBay had a purpose and ultimately made a difference to the lives of all those who used our service. I hold my head high knowing that what we created here was truly beautiful. Thank you all so much for being a part of this journey.
The market will remain open indefinitely until everyone has withdrawn BTC and all open orders have ended.
DarkBay will be with you to the very end.
A month ago some of the DarkBay team decided to create Andromeda, and I have great confidence that it will succeed more than DB ever could. The Andromeda team share our ideas but are more creative and ambitious than I ever was. They have demonstrated great dedication and honestly over the past few months on DarkBay. I am stepping down as administrator and DarkBay will move to Andromeda Marketplace. All users, products and feedback will be transferred over there. This should be in full production and all DB accounts should be able to login to Andromeda. I will no longer be operating as a market administrator for DarkBay or Andromeda; but they have my eternal gratitude and I wish Andromeda nothing but victory.
All DarkBay vendors are welcome to free vendor accounts on Andromeda.
Andromeda Marketplace
Today, DarkBay falls valiantly from its bludgeoned podium. This is a faceless and volatile industry, we face enemies with unlimited capabilities who will violate any law or convention to secure our destruction. The “war on drugs” destroys more lives than any drug ever could. That is the truth. I can see through the fog of lies; It is blinding but I am not blinded. The hidden community we have established here, warped by paranoia and castrated by political injustice can be asphyxiating at times. Always remember that we are not the ones misguided; our vision penetrates every wall of illusion and obscurity, and each downfall adds only momentum to our conquest as we claw and tear through the concrete.
I put my final thought to the political establishment;
I put it simply:
How do you expect to win a war that you have already lost?
LostTemple
DarkBay Administration
This is the site admin comment about the reasons he chose to leave the market as it was published on this reddit thread:
Hi everyone, I will try and answer some of the questions as best I can. I need to step down as DarkBay administrator. My personal life has taken a huge toll from running this market, and it would negatively affect everyone if I continued on regardless. During the final days, I was too busy to respond to support tickets, too slow to ban scammers and DarkBay needed some large scale interface improvements which I could not give it since I have so little time nowadays. It would be an injustice for me to continue with DarkBay, and I think it is far better if we move on. I am sorry that some of you feel negatively about Andromeda, please feel free to go to whatever market you are most comfortable with. Andromeda was created by a DarkBay administrator as a side project, and I trust them personally, so why would I not move DarkBay over there? I feel it was the best decision to maintaining trade for DarkBay users. I have nothing to do with Andromeda with regards to administration, as is the reason I am stepping down on DarkBay. I don’t mind any criticism of DarkBay, you can all make up your own minds and you are free to use any markets you choose.
We wish him good luck, and hope to see other admins quitting gracefully when they feel its time to do so.
Updated: 2014-05-01