It started in November 2014 and officially launched on December 22, 2014. It had 14,000 new users in the first 90 days of its operation. The darknet informer website Gwern.net placed AlphaBay Market in the top tier of markets regarding the 6-month survival probability, and it has proven to be successful. In October 2015, it was recognized as the largest online darknet market according to Dan Palumbo, research director at Digital Citizens Alliance.