A large-scale longitudinal structured dataset of the dark web cryptomarket Evolution (2014–2015)

Data includes a structured dataset of the forum and marketplace of the dark web cryptomarket Evolution as well as a longitudinal network snapshot dataset of a temporal weighted communication network extracted from the forum data. The datasets were extracted from Dark Net Market archive data while resolving many of the data quality issues inherent to raw data scraped from online sources.
Dark web cryptomarkets facilitate the online trade of illicit goods. Evolution was active from January 2014 until March 2015; and formed a combination of  a carding forum and an underground drug market. This dataset includes the vast majority of data that could be obtained from the webpages of the forum and marketplace of Evolution. This includes, for example, information on the number of sales each individual vendor has completed, forum post contents, and product categories.
The extracted communication network models users' co-posting in the same forum topics, in essence modelling communication between them.
Additionally included is the code used to produce the dataset from the Dark Net Market archive data.