So, why isn't Agora listed under "Active Market Warnings"?

I mean, none of the markets that are listed are even standing, much less actively hurting buyers. I have no idea what is going on with Agora -- it could be a technical glitch, an exit scam, law enforcement, reptilians, or even a carefully orchestrated plot by the Belizian tourism board to increase travel. I don't know and no one else does either...

What we DO know is that for some reason, now is not a good time to use Agora. The active warning list isn't the same as the Hall of Shame, so there should be no compunctions about adding trusted markets and when buyers deserve a warning that they might lose their money or product.

Given everything that has been going on, Agora needs to be added to the Active Warning list and it needs to remain there until all the problems are solved and we get a PGP signature along with a suitable explanation of what happened. If those things happen then by all means it can be removed, but if this doesn't meet the criteria for an ACTIVE warning, nothing does.


Comments


[24 Points] None:

Agreed it should be there for sure.

  1. Forums down
  2. Deposits withdrawals broken
  3. Lack of signed pgp message with strange wording compared To other messages they sent us.
  4. Vendors like righteous saying in their vendors page Agora is compromised
  5. Tin foil hat info the professor house is now back

Anyone depositing money right now is taking a huge risk hence a proper warning should be listed.


[16 Points] InfinitelyOutThere:

Hey I'll get that added, seems only fair. I'm skeptical there is an actual problem but yeah, people should know. Thanks :)


[9 Points] LongLiveThe_King:

No idea. It seems like half the fucking team has gone AWOL. I'll put up a warning now.

Is there a comprehensive thread I can link that explains all of what is going on? I've been working so much this past month that I miss all the good posts.


[6 Points] select1on:

MIght be because no one knows what the actual issue is. The warnings are usually for known risks although the wording might not be 100% logical. I think some clearer wording might be worthwhile.

I added a (warning) to dnstats for Agora just because there is a lot of uncertainty but that's about it.


[3 Points] 0xb44d:

Running an underground drug market is hard - you only have to read the details of the takedowns of SR1 and SR2 to see that to keep a market up requires using offshore hosting, a large number of hosts, active backups and synchronisation between the hosts, servers that can be deleted and your network will re-balance

It is extremely unreasonable to expect a darknetmarket to have 100% uptime in these circumstances. Security should trump uptime in every case.

What Agora is going through isn't unexpected, a very popular market with a good track record of security having to deal with an influx with new users. You'll have to excuse them if bringing new servers up isn't a 6 hour effort, they can't exactly go and signup for Google or Amazon hosting.

Warnings should be for security incidents, downtime is to be expected.


[3 Points] None:

It's fixed:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2nb99n/agora_payment_issues_repair_report_pgp_signed/


[2 Points] run_dnm:

My btc deposit from last Friday just appeared in my agora wallet, fwiw


[2 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] ownowfuck:

Probably because they constantly move their servers when there's an alleged breach, they practice good OPSEC, they keep a low-profile in the community, and they're one (if not the) of the top markets right now.


[2 Points] CuriousTripper:

Glad there's a warning up now. I love Agora to bits, but this is ridiculous. I'm giving it at least a fortnight before I head back, regardless of withdrawals/deposits being fixed. If the problem took what? Almost a week to fix it must have been something serious. I'll give them a while to iron things out. I'd recommend others do the same, but it's entirely up to yourselves.


[1 Points] Gomba1:

Was about to post the exact same post as OP.

There is no use for an active warning list that is not beign updated in real time, the same as i have pointed out before that there is no use for an outdated dnm chart such as the one linked from here.

Agora should be with an active warning without a doubt.


[1 Points] cannaoil:

Agora doesn't like to talk much, just get shit done apparently, I sent support a PGP-Encrypted message possibly a month ago. They responded with " Please do not send PGP to support, it clogs the system and takes a lot longer to respond. " This is supposed to be for the sake of our security. That's why I trust this market still. But I personally haven't been able to withdrawal yet despite some users claiming their deposits are going through. So be aware. And if you have a successful withdrawal let me know.