The alleged main administrator of Dream Market, once one of the largest dark web marketplaces before it was shut down, has been indicted in the United States on money laundering charges.
Owe Martin Andresen, 49, was charged by a federal grand jury on Wednesday with six counts of international concealment money laundering and six counts of concealment money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Andresen was also arrested in Germany under separate concealment money laundering charges, each of which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Dream Market was launched in November 2013 as a dark web marketplace that allowed users to anonymously buy and sell illegal goods and services. It became one of the biggest platforms of its kind after authorities seized the Hansa and AlphaBay marketplaces. At its peak, Dream Market reportedly had nearly 100,000 active listings at any given time.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the marketplace helped facilitate the sale of large amounts of illegal drugs before it was shut down in 2019. Prosecutors said the platform was linked to the sale of more than 450 kilograms of cocaine, 90 kilograms of heroin, 45 kilograms of methamphetamine, 25 kilograms of crack cocaine, 13 kilograms of oxycodone, and 36 kilograms of fentanyl.
Authorities allege that Andresen operated under the online handle “Speedstepper,” which prosecutors describe as the main administrator of Dream Market. The identity behind that account had not previously been publicly confirmed, even though other senior operators of the marketplace had already been prosecuted.
Prosecutors claim Andresen accessed dormant Dream Market cryptocurrency wallets in November and December 2022. Those wallets allegedly contained millions of dollars in commission payments from the marketplace. He is accused of moving the funds into new cryptocurrency wallets, an action investigators say could only have been carried out by someone who had access to the marketplace’s original private keys.
The DOJ said that months later, in August 2023, Andresen allegedly used a cryptocurrency service provider based in Atlanta, Georgia, to buy gold bars from international companies. Prosecutors said the gold bars were purchased using funds from the consolidated wallets and were shipped to his home address in Germany.
German law enforcement also identified additional alleged money laundering transactions linked to Andresen. In total, prosecutors claim he laundered more than $2 million between August 2023 and April 2025.
During searches of Andresen’s home and two other locations on May 7, 2026, German authorities recovered around $1.7 million in gold bars, which were allegedly purchased using Dream Market funds. They also seized more than $23,000 in cash, along with evidence related to bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets holding around $1.2 million in suspected Dream Market proceeds.
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Other senior Dream Market administrators who used the names “Oxymonster” and “KITT3N” had previously been convicted following prosecutions led by the U.S. Department of Justice. Another mid-level administrator, known as “GOWRON,” who was responsible for customer service issues, was convicted after prosecution by the United Kingdom Crown Prosecution Service.
