Long dead dark web site reawakens to move millions in Bitcoin.

The dark web continues to be a hub of criminal activity, with everything from stolen credit cards and passwords compromised by infostealers to the full access to your small business available for purchase.

The Nucleus Marketplace, a notorious dark web criminal forum, has shown signs of activity for the first time in nine years.

The marketplace, known for selling everything from drugs and hacking services, abruptly ceased operations in 2016, leaving behind an estimated 5,000 BTC in its wallets.

According to Arkham Intelligence, Nucleus Marketplace's wallets have become active again today.

The market, which sold drugs, hacking services, and fake IDs, closed down in 2016.

Its BTC has never been touched since, and no one knows why the market shut down so suddenly.

Its inactivity was total, with no sign of activity from threat intelligence analysts.

However, according to blockchain analysts at Arkham Intelligence, the ancient dark web site has reawakened and there has been activity involving the $400 million in Bitcoin it has been sitting on.

"Wallets belonging to Nucleus Marketplace woke up this morning after 9 years of inactivity," Arkham said, "transferring $77.5M worth of Bitcoin to 3 new wallets."

If this is an exit scam, then the criminals behind the Nucleus Marketplace are indeed masters of the long game. And with $365 million in Bitcoin still available to them, it really is a case of watch this space. You can be sure that both Arkham’s intelligence analysts and law enforcement will be doing precisely that.