Empire Market co-founder sentenced, forfeits $100M in bitcoin
7 Security Empire Market's co-founder sentenced to 40 years, forfeiting $100M+ in bitcoin and assets. The platform enabled millions of crypto-based illegal transactions from 2018–2020.
Raheim Hamilton, co-founder of the darknet marketplace Empire Market, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and fined $5 million. He agreed to forfeit 1,230 bitcoin—valued at approximately $100–101 million—along with 24.4 ether and three properties. Empire Market operated from 2018 to 2020, facilitating over four million transactions totaling more than $430 million. Nearly $375 million of these transactions were linked to drug sales, including fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. The platform also enabled the sale of stolen account credentials, personal data, counterfeit currency, and hacking tools, with all transactions conducted in cryptocurrency. Hamilton and his partner, Thomas Pavey, promoted the use of mixers to obscure the flow of funds. Pavey previously forfeited 1,584 bitcoin, gold, vehicles, and properties, and is awaiting sentencing. A 2025 executive order mandates that forfeited bitcoin be placed in a national reserve, prohibiting its sale.
