DISCLOSURE · METHOD · LIMITS
About This Mars Darknet Market Reference: Method and Disclosure 2026
This Mars darknet reference is an independent, editorial resource for research and security education. We describe how the market and its addresses behave, we verify what we can, and we are open about the limits. This page explains who keeps it, how we check things, and what we will never claim.
What happens before a line goes live
Nothing here is posted on a hunch. We probe an address more than once, cross-check it against a signed list where one exists, and only then publish. When a claim cannot be verified, we label it pending instead of dressing it up. The steps below are the whole loop.
Who runs this reference
Two named analysts write and maintain this reference and its sibling sites. We are not affiliated with the Mars market operators, its vendors, or any registrar, and no vendor or operator pays for coverage.
Neither is affiliated with Mars, its operators, or its vendors. See the editorial policy for the full independence and corrections rules that bind everything on this site and its three siblings.
Four rules we hold to
Verify, then write
An address earns a green label only after it answers a repeat probe. One ping proves little.
Cryptography over looks
A signed list beats a pretty page. When a signing key ships, it becomes the anchor of trust.
Say pending out loud
If we cannot confirm something, the page says so. We would rather be dull than wrong.
No money passes us
We take no deposits, run no escrow, and sell nothing. There is no wallet to hand us.
What we are not
We are not the Mars market. We do not take orders, hold coins, or run escrow for anyone. This site cannot process a payment, and any page that claims to do so under our name is a fake. Treat all activity as your own responsibility.
How to reach us and verify us
A signing key and a contact channel are being prepared. Once published, the key lets you confirm that a mirror list or a notice truly came from this reference and was not altered. Until then, treat any message signed in our name with caution, because the anchor is not live yet.
PGP fingerprint pending (Phase 0)When the key ships, this line changes to a real fingerprint and a signed contact note. Check back rather than trusting a copy.
How this Mars darknet market reference is actually maintained
Readers reasonably ask what "we" means on an independent Mars reference, and how a page like this stays accurate when a darknet market's onion addresses can change without warning. Here is the honest version.
Who maintains this page and how often
This is a small, independent reference maintained outside of Mars — it is not run by Mars staff and has no operational relationship with the market. Maintenance means checking the PGP-signed mirror canon against what is published here, confirming address fingerprints still match, and correcting anything that has drifted. That check happens on an ongoing basis rather than a fixed calendar, because a darknet market's mirror status can change at any hour and a stale page is worse than an honest gap.
What "verified" means when we use it
On this site, "verified" specifically means an onion address's fingerprint matches the current PGP-signed canon — nothing broader. It does not mean we have tested every feature inside the Mars darknet market, vetted individual vendors, or confirmed how disputes resolve in practice. Conflating "verified address" with "endorsed market" is a common mistake we try hard not to make in our own copy, and we would rather under-claim than over-claim what a green status actually proves.
Why we do not use uptime percentages or star ratings
A single uptime percentage or star rating compresses a lot of different, sometimes contradictory signals into one number that looks more precise than it is. Instead this page uses plain status words — checking, dead, seized — tied to what was actually observed, and leaves synthesis to the reader rather than pretending a formula can do it for them. If that changes, it will be disclosed here first.
Read the explainer or the review
New here? The plain explainer covers how these markets work. The review reads Mars against fixed criteria.
Common questions we get about verification
Why can't you just say the address is 100% safe?
Because "safe" would be a claim about the market's own security, escrow handling, and vendor honesty — things this page cannot measure. What we can measure is whether an address matches a signed record and reaches a live host. Those two facts are what the verified mark actually means, and we keep the language narrow so it doesn't imply more.
I found a Mars link that isn't on this page. Is it fake?
Not automatically fake, but unconfirmed by us. A project can run addresses we have not yet cross-checked. Treat any address outside our published list as unverified until it clears the same signature check the ones here go through — don't assume it's safe just because it looks plausible, and don't assume it's a scam without evidence either.
What's the actual difference between "checking" and "verified"?
Checking describes reachability — whether our last probe could reach the address at all, which changes hour to hour. Verified describes provenance — whether the address string itself matches our signed canon. An address can be verified and unreachable at the same time (a temporary outage), or reachable and unverified (an address we simply haven't cross-checked yet). We report both separately rather than folding them into one badge.
Do you get paid if I click through to Mars?
No. There is no referral code, no affiliate tag, and no paid placement anywhere on this reference. An address is listed because we could source and check it, not because anyone paid for visibility.
How do I actually compare two onion addresses without missing a swapped character?
Don't read them as one long blur. Break each 56-character string into short chunks — five or six characters at a time — and compare chunk by chunk against the version on this page. A single swapped character anywhere in the string means it is a different address entirely, not a typo to shrug off.
What happens after you publish the Phase 0 PGP key?
Once the offline key is published, every address on this reference gets checked against a real signature rather than a pending slot, and the fingerprint block on the homepage stops reading "pending" and starts reading the actual key. Until then, treat the address list as the best available record, not a cryptographically closed case.