I2P (Invisible Internet Project)
Web3 / privacy technology
The Invisible Internet Project, commonly known as I2P, is an anonymous overlay network and alternative to Tor that routes communications through a peer-to-peer network of volunteer-operated nodes using a system of one-way encrypted tunnels. Unlike Tor, which is optimized for accessing the regular internet anonymously, I2P is primarily designed for internal network communication between sites and services hosted within the I2P network itself. I2P uses garlic routing — a variation of onion routing that bundles multiple encrypted messages together — to make traffic analysis significantly more difficult. A small number of darknet markets have experimented with I2P hosting as an alternative or complement to Tor, particularly as concerns about Tor's resilience to sophisticated surveillance have grown. Example: Security researchers monitoring the darknet market ecosystem in 2025 noted early-stage experimentation with I2P-based market hosting as a fallback option, with some markets distributing I2P mirror links alongside their primary Tor onion addresses as a contingency against potential Tor network disruption. Why it matters for privacy technology: I2P represents an important alternative architecture for anonymous communication that differs meaningfully from Tor in its technical design, threat model, and use cases. As governments continue to develop capabilities for Tor traffic analysis, interest in I2P and alternative networks like Lokinet has grown among privacy-focused users and darknet operators seeking greater resilience.
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