FAQs


What's Asap?

Asap is an auction-style marketplace for all black market items. Here, anyone can obtain a seller account and put listings for the community. Transactions are made through our secure Escrow system to ensure safety for our buyers. We have a zero-tolerance policy for scamming, so you can buy with confidence! All products are sold by vendors.




Who runs Asap?

Asap (2021-now) has been put online by the Asap Organization. Public figures of the current Administration include DeSnake who was the original other co-founder of Asap and security administrator in the period 2014-2017. Now DeSnake is back to make Asap great again.




Is this the real Asap (2014-2017)? Is the Administration the same?

Yes, it is the real Asap. DeSnake has signed a PGP signed message confirming his identity and the return of Asap. The administration is almost the same as in the 2014-2017 period which means you will find again Asap runs with mature management, unparalleled security, 24/7 professional & well-trained Staff and of course unique vision for the future not only for itself but for the darknet market scene too.




How has Asap improved since 2017?

Many positive changes have been applied to Asap and the way it operates from Administration to Staff to ScamWatch to how we organize and reward the community for helping the marketplace stay clean and free of bad vendors/products. A non-exclusive list of changes:
Developed from scratch and battle-tested for years AlphaGuard which ensures even if seizures happen on all servers, users will be able to withdraw their funds, settle disputes and leave without a cent lost. AlphaGuard and its systems can not be detected by LE to be taken down and even if they were, there are 'sleeping cells' which will make sure the core objectives of the program are fulfilled.
New built from the ground up secure code base for the marketplace. For security reasons we have created a new platform which has many visual similarities to the old one, however not a single line of code or code logic has been reused from the 2014-2017 period. The new platform is not based on any public scripts, it is 100% unique with best industry practices and security in mind when creating it.

Bulletproof servers network and automatic server reconfiguration and deployment (after manual Administration approval) in a matter of minutes, based on the AlphaGuard system. Almost all of our servers are kept in locations with high amount of armed guards and multiple security protocols to pass through before accessing the server racks. We have CCTV access which can alert us of anything happening. Our hosting providers are proven bulletproof which means they will not respond to Law Enforcement requests - local or international.

New Staff system to a granular system for access. Asap will grow which means we will need to source more Staff. That comes with inherent risks and in order to minimise them we have developed a monitoring system of Staff actions, limiting access to profiles unless needed, permission-requested-permission-granted/denied with comments which have to be approved by higher ranked Staff members, even higher ranked Staff members have their actions logged. Administration reviews the logs on a daily basis to ensure no Staff is abusing their powers for their own benefit or otherwise.

Our very own Automatic Dispute Resolver (ADR) system. Based on experience we have concluded that majority of the disputes can be handled without third-party involvement given the option. ADR is basically a proposition system between buyer and seller involving extending escrow time, full refund, percentage refund or replacement options. Both parties can accept or deny proposition(s) from the other side. We strongly recommend using ADR because it is exactly the same steps a moderator would take during a dispute without the need to babysit both parties. Even if you do not reach an agreement with the vendor, you would know where you stand or you would have tried certain options like reshipping/replacement of goods. The system has been designed to ensure quick resolution if needed by moderator by looking at what has already happened. If for some reason, at any given time ADR does not work for you and you can not reach an agreement or simply refuse to use it at all, there is always an available moderator to look into it in less than 24 hours.

Asap now accepts only Monero (XMR). We have moved away from Bitcoin because not only transactions are too transparent but also because users (buyers/vendor) do not obfuscate it enough either due to being incompetent or lazy. To eliminate this attack vector by LE and protect our users, we have decided to accept Monero only with the possiblity of adding other privacy coins in the future. To add an extra layer of defense we run our own internal Monero mixer to guarantee even if your transactions get uncovered they will never be linked to you.

Heavy focus on I2P rather than Tor network. In our public PGP signed message we have explained that Tor refuses to make changes to how it operates to eliminate attacks used not only to do DoS against hidden services but also used by LE to deanonymize those services and locate them (as they did with Asap).


What is AlphaGuard?

AlphaGuard is a very well tested system which ensures even if seizures happen on all servers, users will be able to withdraw their funds, settle disputes and leave without a cent lost. The system has been in development for 2 years with countless tests and has had a standalone testing period of 1 year+ where it ran on its own. AlphaGuard is quite advanced piece of code which can run even without having access to any servers provided by Administration. It has what we call 'hive-mind' which enables it to detect if there are few servers left to launch itself from which then kickstarts several programs which can either (1) purchase more servers on its own by accessing its very own cryptocurrency wallets and leveraging pre-funded accounts for bypassing captcha, or (2) automatically exploit random servers, websites, gain automatic privilage escalation and ultimately be able to fulfill its core programming objectives while preserving encrypted all information.

Let us take the theoretical scenario if any our systems detect an anomaly. Our systems will go into lockdown mode. Lockdown mode has to be disabled by administrators manually within 72 hours otherwise the systems launch the wallet recovery mode. Through different channels on the Internet will be posted the onion and/or i2p addresses of the withdraw pages. The withdraw pages are standalone and require 3 pieces of identification to allow withdraw of the funds: username, password, wallet recovery key. You CAN NOT do anything without having all 3 elements. After you have entered your information you will be granted with a field for your public or internal XMR address which you must fulfill. You CAN NOT choose to withdraw small pieces of your wallet, the wallet does not give that option or specify how much you want to withdraw. You WITHDRAW ALL FUNDS AT ONCE NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL THE AMOUNT IS.

Several weeks after withdraw mode has been running (we are not specifying for security reasons but it is more than 2 and less than 8), the self-destruct mode will kick-in which will ERASE ALL DATABASES, FILES, SYSTEMS AUTOMATICALLY. Once completed that will be the end of it. No way to recover anything ever again, not for customers, not for us, not for Law Enforcement (LE).

We take our and the security of our customers as top priority and we will not allow any kind of attacks to be successful in penetrating our defense layers. We are prepared with automated and tested systems alongside 24/7/365 administration/security to respond and react to any type of breach or even anomaly in set of operations.

NOTICE: In the theoretical situation which we described above if the password you are entering is not working, a very likely solution will be that you changed your password before we made a backup or the system can not reach one of the latest backups so it reverts to an older one. Ensure you save at least your previous password to avoid such scenario. All passwords are encrypted in accordance to security language best practices and techniques, we rely on proven and tested methods plus crypto and do not roll our own mechanisms for obvious reasons.




How/Why is Asap different?

Asap boasts with unmatched reputation and good-standing within the darknet community. We have always been transparent, professional and fair to every party involved that is why we were the preferred place of business by hundreds of thousands of buyers and vendors. Unlike any other marketplaces we actually have a vision for the future which involves an improvement for the darknet market scene as a whole (Decentralized Market Network). By using our marketplace you help fund the development of the Decentralized Market Network.




What are the Asap community functions?

In terms of community functions, in the marketplace, we have completely scrapped the formula for calculating user Trust Level (TL). TLs will now take into account a variety of account attributes without the need of collecting extra data not required by the core functions of the site. Trust Levels are both for buyers and vendors, each with a specific set of rules how they are measured but both are balanced with one another. Higher TLs may be required by vendors for buyers to view and buy their listings. For example a minimum of Trust Level 2 for buyers is required in order to see or buy the automated credit card/accounts autoshops and Trust Level 3 (and Vendor Level 3) for vendors is required in order to put up data for sell in the autoshop. Trust Levels work by forming a network of users who Trust or Distrust each other, depending on the individuals TL, the impact of clicking 'Trust' or 'Distrust' can be different for each individual. Other actions such as reporting listings, vendors and other website actions affect the Trust Level of the account positively or negatively depending if e.g. your reports have been true or too many have been false. If you put up too many fake reports you will have a warning point assigned to your account by moderators.

Warning points are used to moderate accounts who do not obey by the simple website rules. In the past we have seen multiple times users do the same thing over and over and over again without any consequences. It took many man hours to deal with few individuals who continued to do things which have not been explicitly disallowed but which affected negatively the productivity of staff. Too many warning points results in account limitation, if the violation is too severe an outright ban by assigning the highest number of warning points.

Privacy has always been important to us that is why all buyer profiles are private by default e.g. buyer information (feedback, feedback % positive, ratings/comments for user by other vendors etc.) is only disclosed to vendor when a buyer is making a purchase. The available information is shown before the vendor accepts the order and not after. Vendors are advised to leave their profile to public to enable customers to make a more informed decision.

ScamWatch is back so the most active users which help report scams and keep the marketplace clean can become part of it. ScamWatch will continue to have the same functions guarding users from scams, catching scams in their tracks, ensuring listings are truthful and vendors stick to their refund policies, review reports and relay important information to Staff etc. To increase drugs safety usage within Asap as well as availability of more 'pure products', ScamWatch has a new extended function, through undisclosed methods and techniques, making sure vendor products are what they claim they are and are not fake/laced with fentanyl (banned) etc.

Referrals are available again. Perfect for those who have marketing skills/can spread the word or for vendors to get cash-back by referring their customers. We offer the highest rate in the industry up to 25% of our profits depending on TLs of the referred.

New marketplace categories like Services (programming, graphic design, remote administration, language translation etc.) and Automotive (hacking, parts, keys, exploits etc.) open the space for more opportunities for everyone involved.




What is Asap Forum?

Asap Forum is a place where all the community comes together to talk, discuss and share. If you want to grow in your business or wish to find a new business or an idea to make money, this is the place for you.




What vision going forward does Asap have for itself?

Our end goal is to create a fully autonomous, decentralized and anonymous network which can support the creation of a marketplace 'brand' by anyone. We will create an 'Asap' market on that network and migrate our community, giving users and vendors ability to buy, sell and trade in a decentralized manner. Potentially other marketplaces will join the network as it mitigates their requirements and risk of arrest without giving up management control (disputes, what is allowed to be sold, hiring of staff, setting fees, control of their profit wallets etc). Users will be safe to purchase from multiple markets all without the need of trusting any market with their cryptocurrency or registering for each one individually. Vendors will be able to sell on multiple markets seemlessly or even create their own shop while preserving their anonimity and security.




Why is Asap currently a Monero-only marketplace? What is wrong with Bitcoin?

Monero (XMR) is a currency which we added previously on our marketplace alongside few others. Currently it is the only available cryptocurrency to use on our marketplace due to its higher security and anonimity. Anyone serious about their privacy should migrate from Bitcoin and the likes, and only use audited privacy coins to do transactions on the darknet. Monero offers the perfect mix between usability, community support, security and anonimity.




Why use Asap today over other marketplaces?

We are professionally-run, anonymous, secure marketplace with a track record like no other marketplace out there - dead or alive. From management to Staff to the technology behind Asap to our bulletproof servers we have the very best. With the protection from a system like AlphaGuard which no other marketplace has, we are clearly a choice for those who have stability and security as their priorities.