On September 25, OpenBazaar announced that their platform would likely shut down due to financial difficulties, stating that user growth and adoption had stalled. According to a tweet published on Open Bazaar’s official Twitter account, a mysterious donor has since agreed to cover the cost of the marketplace’s operations through the end of the year. While the exact amount of funding provided was not disclosed, OpenBazaar’s donation wallets have received over $13,000 as of publication. These funds came in the form of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and other crypto donations. With its first beta released in 2014, OpenBazaar …

OpenBazaar has released beta version 0.4.0 for Linux and Mac users, with Windows users once again left waiting for executable binaries, which are promised to be released soon. OpenBazaar, previously known as DarkMarket, is a decentralized marketplace that expands on the libertarian ideals behind Deep Web services such as the Silk Road. OpenBazaar has dubbed the new version ‘Portobello,’ after the famous street market in London. The update includes some major additions. Security wise, the service now includes HD key signing and an internal messaging system. It gives notaries, essentially optional third-party arbitrators of the service, more features. They now …

The early 20th century was a hard time to be an alcohol drinker (read: prohibition). And 15th century New England was a hard place to be a female atheist (read: Salem Witch Trials). Similarly, most of the world in the 21st century is a hard place to be a drug user (if you buy from someone other than the government-supported drug dealers known as “pharmaceutical companies”). Over the past few years, Internet websites like the Silk Road alleviated the egregious burden placed on drug users, allowing them to step off the filthy streets and cleanly place an order for their …

An untouchable Internet-based market is on the verge of release. OpenBazaar, once just a proof-of-concept for a decentralized marketplace run on Bitcoin, entered beta 1.0 Tuesday morning. The developers announced the beta in a blog post, paired with an accompanying tutorial and several caveats. Participating is limited to those with technical know-how who want to help test. There are risks. They warn that: “While you can engage in real trade, the purpose will be to test the platform, not actually run a store.” On the other hand, if you want to test out the marketplace, whether to help or simply …