{"id":701,"date":"2026-06-04T14:40:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701"},"modified":"2026-06-04T14:40:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:40:29","slug":"i-bought-peptides-with-crypto-how-my-purchase-helped-fuel-a-100-million-gray-market-looksmaxxing-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701","title":{"rendered":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Mindful of my expense account, I scoured the menu for a cheaper peptide, a term that describes a class of molecules that promise some type of wellness boost and include the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy. I settled on 5-amino-1MQ, a substance that one connoisseur later told me \u201cmakes a lot more sense for high-level competitive athletes,\u201d not a first-time peptides buyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Top CD rates from major banks on June 4, 2026: Chase CDs, Bank of America CDs, Citibank CDs, and more<\/a><\/p>\n

Louise quoted me a price of $49 for the medication, plus $60 for overnight shipping. She asked for payment, proposing the Chinese platform Alipay. Or, she said, I could send crypto. Eventually, I sent Louise $109 worth of USDC, a popular stablecoin whose price is pegged to the U.S. dollar. After I confirmed my shipping details, she responded with a heart emoji.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Two days later, in late May, a small package with 10 vials full of a bright-orange substance arrived at Fortune<\/em>\u2019s office from a facility in New Hampshire. I had successfully used crypto to buy peptides\u2014and participated in a booming gray-market economy increasingly reliant on digital assets, according to data from the crypto analytics firm Chainalysis. \u201cIf this end[s] with you under investigation by a federal agency,\u201d my editor messaged me, \u201cI will swear it was in the name of journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I won\u2019t tell you anything\u2019<\/h2>\n

Since the launch of Ozempic and Wegovy in 2021, peptides have exploded in popularity. In fact, the \u201cp\u201d in GLP-1, the class of medications to which the blockbuster weight-loss drugs belong, is short for peptide, which are chains of amino acids.<\/p>\n

But, more recently, wellness influencers and Silicon Valley biohackers have begun to experiment with what medical professionals say is a more unproven class of medications, including drugs that proponents claim promote blood vessel growth, improve sleep quality, or enhance collagen production. This uptake has also coincided with the rise of \u201clooksmaxxing,\u201d a viral trend on social media where young men inject themselves with peptides or submit to surgeries to make themselves more attractive. Even Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has shown support. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of peptides,\u201d he told the podcaster Joe Rogan in February.<\/p>\n

These drugs exist in a legal gray area. Some peptides are approved for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Others aren\u2019t. And many buyers are purchasing drugs sold only for \u201cresearch purposes\u201d directly from manufacturers in China. \u201cGenerally, companies selling products to affect the structure and function of the body need FDA approval,\u201d Joshua Sharfstein, a professor of public health at John Hopkins University and a former deputy commissioner at the FDA, told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Because of peptides\u2019 shaky legal status, vendors who sell the drugs directly to consumers are at risk of losing access to U.S. banks and payments networks, said Olivia Chow, an advisor at the crypto consultancy Zero Knowledge Group, who has helped companies in high-risk industries get bank accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have these high-risk areas, the vast majority of banks\u2014if you\u2019re doing payment processing\u2014any of the regulated entities just won\u2019t touch it,\u201d she said, adding that the card networks like Visa and Mastercard are especially risk-adverse.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Shuyao Kong, cofounder of the blockchain MegaETH, says this is precisely why peptide vendors are approaching her team. \u201cA lot of peptides companies are already using crypto,\u201d she told me. \u201cWhen they look at crypto, they\u2019re like, \u2018This is like the most natural, logical payment rail.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A new report by Chainalysis, the crypto analytics firm, catalogues a recent explosion in peptide-related crypto flows. The firm found that, during the first quarter of 2026, peptides vendors received $32 million in digital assets, a 700% increase from the year before. If the trend continues, Chainalysis projects that peptides sellers will do more than $100 million in crypto volume this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Current price of oil as of June 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For peptides distributors, crypto transactions involve no intermediaries. When I send USDC to Louise, banks aren\u2019t able to decline the transaction. And wallets on blockchains are a jumble of letters and digits, not someone\u2019s name or Social Security number. That pseudonymity is arguably behind Bitcoin\u2019s early rise\u2014although crypto payments are more traceable than many think. Before it was shut down in 2013, the notorious online black market Silk Road asked buyers and sellers to transact in Bitcoin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a longstanding thing of using crypto to buy drugs, right?\u201d said Tori Pastore, who\u2019s worked at multiple crypto companies and now has her own media and events business. (She\u2019s used peptides and told me they were \u201clife-changing.\u201d)<\/p>\n

As part of its analysis. Chainalysis found that a subset of vendors have changed course from producing fentanyl chemical precursors to manufacturing peptides. \u201cThey just rebranded,\u201d said Sara Graham, a senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis. \u201cThey pivoted to peptides because it\u2019s less costly.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked my peptides dealer Louise\u2014who represents a company called Shanghai ERP Peptide Biotechnology Co., Ltd\u2014why her firm accepts crypto. She declined to answer. From late January to early June, Louise\u2019s company received about $3.6 million in digital assets, according to calculations from Chainalysis. (The analytics firm found no evidence that Shanghai ERP was linked to the fentanyl trade.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHoney, I won\u2019t tell you anything,\u201d Louise messaged me over WhatsApp. \u201cI won\u2019t risk sending my boss to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prohibition party<\/h2>\n

After I chatted about peptides with Pastore over a video call, she invited me to a peptides-themed party she had organized near Wall Street. She described the dress code for the evening as \u201cprohibition-underground-speakeasy-art-deco-bioshock-american dynamism,\u201d and the event\u2019s custom cocktails included a \u201cTirzepatini,\u201d the \u201cGHK-Mule,\u201d and an \u201cOxytonic.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the party, I met Avery Haskell, the cofounder and CEO of Seedbox Labs, a startup that\u2019s developing an at-home device to let men test the quality of their sperm. Recently, he sent his dealer about $900 in stablecoins for a potpourri of medications. They include NAD+, which adherents say improves longevity; MOTS-c, which scientists have found increases physical performance in mice; and Tesamorelin, a synthetic growth hormone.<\/p>\n

As we discussed the explosion of crypto payments for peptides, a former quant trader attending the party listened in and interjected: \u201cIt\u2019s Silk Road all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The next day, I called Haskell\u2019s vendor, who says his customers include celebrities and claims he sources his drugs from a Florida university he declined to name. \u201cThere is such a bottleneck here,\u201d the seller said, asking for anonymity because of the legal uncertainty surrounding peptides sales. \u201cAnd, like, crypto is the solution at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018My first response is, it started in 1968 \u2014 not a bad run\u2019: Some see the death of 60 Minutes after Pelley\u2019s firing, \u2018murder\u2019 comments<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the China-based sellers have pivoted from fentanyl to peptides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"yoast_head":"\nI bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some of the China-based sellers have pivoted from fentanyl to peptides.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701\"},\"wordCount\":1146,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cryptocurrency\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701\",\"name\":\"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=701#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Some of the China-based sellers have pivoted from fentanyl to peptides.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy","datePublished":"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701"},"wordCount":1146,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp","articleSection":["Cryptocurrency"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701","name":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-04T14:40:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d9819beb000229789c4d635dc85d68d2.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=701#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I bought peptides with crypto. How my purchase helped fuel a $100 million gray-market, \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 economy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}