The internet most people use is only the surface. Beneath it exists a hidden ecosystem of encrypted marketplaces, anonymous communications, cryptocurrency transactions, and criminal networks operating across borders. So how do investigators infiltrate a world designed to hide people, money, and crime? In this episode, Justin Yentes sits down with IRS Special Agents Don Ellsworth and David Votaw, alongside retired Homeland Security Investigations Agent Bill Green, to break down how early dark web investigations worked and the ways cryptocurrency changed everything.

They discuss the reality of undercover cyber investigations, the evolution of crypto-related crime, and the difficult human cases investigators encountered while working inside hidden online marketplaces years before most people even knew the dark web existed. From Bitco ...