Guess what? The Silk Road is back.

Just shortly after being shut down by the Feds, the Silk Road version 2.0 is back in business? What? How? Why? Here's the scoop!

Some Things Remain the Same

Some things about the Silk Road worked very well. Using Tor, for example, was a good move. Another great idea was keeping buyer and seller anonymity by exchanging BitCoins instead of dollars. Well, those two things won't change when it comes to the new Silk Road. You'll still find the site using Tor, and you'll still need BitCoins (which you can now find in a vending machine in Vancouver, by the way).

Guess what else is the same? Dread Pirate Roberts. But, wait, wasn't that guy arrested? Yep, the real Dread Pirate Roberts (or should I say the "authentic" one?) is still in police custody. But whoever is currently running the site is using the same screen name. Some things are different about the resurrected site, though.

Invite Only

Right now, you can't sign up for a new Silk Road account. The only way to get a new account is to receive an invite from someone that already has an account. It's kind of an exclusivity thing right now. Once you get that invite, you can sign up. However, there's no guarantee that the Feds won't catch you.

Right now, rumour has it that the Feds are looking for anyone doing business on the previous Silk Road - and since those are the same members that are using the new Silk Road, well, you can expect a crackdown...unless you are part of the conspiracy theory set.

The Other Side

There's another side to the whole Silk Road coin too. Some believe that the infamous capture of Dread Pirate Roberts was a setup - a shakeup, if you will - to simply gain attention for the site. Sound kooky? Maybe; but it's definitely one of the more popular theories floating around. You may also be wondering just how many people are going to use a site that was recently shuttered by the F.B.I.

The answers is that roughly 500 transactions have already taken place (according to Forbes Magazine). As you can see, people aren't scared to use the site once again. I'm not sure what that says about people in general, but, yeah, the site is alive and well - heck, some people are even reposting old threads.

Is It More Secure?

That's what reluctant users want to know. Site admins have added a new layer of security to the site (a voluntary implementation of a PGP encryption key), but that may not keep the Feds out. Use the new Silk Road at your own risk!

Alright, let me have it: what do you think of the Silk Road 2.0? Is this site going to outwit the Feds; it is part of a grand plan; and is it something that you would even consider using? Leave your comments below - whether they're conspiracy ridden or not!