DOJ Indicts Alleged Dream Market Admin Over Gold Laundering

The Department of Justice has indicted Owe Martin Andresen, 49, a German citizen, accusing him of converting roughly $2 million in Bitcoin tied to Dream Market into about $1.7 million in gold bars shipped to his home in Germany. German authorities arrested Andresen on May 7. Law enforcement seized approximately $1.7 million in gold bullion and about $23,000 in cash at the time of the arrest; prosecutors also linked about $1.2 million in bank and crypto accounts to the marketplace.

Prosecutors allege Andresen operated online as ‘Speedstepper’ and served as a principal administrator of Dream Market. The indictment says he accessed dormant wallets associated with the market in late 2022, moved funds into new consolidated addresses, and beginning in August 2023 used an Atlanta-based cryptocurrency service to buy gold bars from international dealers who shipped the bullion to his residential address in Germany.

The U.S. indictment charges Andresen with 12 counts including money laundering and conspiracy, each count carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years. German authorities have lodged parallel charges that carry separate maximum sentences of up to five years for each count. The filings say investigators identified Andresen after tracing cryptocurrency transfers and physical shipments.

Dream Market operated from 2013 until it closed in 2019. At its peak the site listed nearly 100,000 offerings and accepted payments in Bitcoin. U.S. prosecutors say the platform facilitated the sale of large quantities of illegal drugs, including about 450 kilograms of cocaine, 90 kilograms of heroin and 36 kilograms of fentanyl.

Earlier prosecutions identified and convicted other Dream Market administrators who used the handles Oxymonster, KITT3N and GOWRON. Law enforcement has in recent years pursued dormant cryptocurrency linked to older darknet markets and recovered significant amounts of seized Bitcoin tied to past cases.

The charges will proceed through U.S. and German legal systems. The indictment outlines the sequence of cryptocurrency transfers, purchases of physical bullion and shipments to a German address as the basis for the laundering and conspiracy allegations. The charging documents do not include a statement from Andresen or his legal counsel.