Drug Trends has identified, crawled (or ‘scraped’), extracted, categorised and analysed drug listings on cryptomarkets on a regular basis since 1st February 2014. This bulletin reports on trends in the availability of etomidate for purchase in Australia via cryptomarkets. The current bulletin focuses on analysis of listings on cryptomarkets from June 2021 to September 2026.

Key findings

• 198 etomidate listings were identified on cryptomarkets between June 2021 and September 2026. It accounted for less than 0.1% of drug listings across all time points. No etomidate analogues were identified.
• There were no etomidate listings identified between June 2021 and October 2022, and only a total of 42 listings were identified in the 3 years to October 2025. The number and percentage of etomidate listings increased from October 2025 onwards to a total of 156 listings in the last year, and reached 38 (0.05%) listings in September 2026.
• About 1 in 3 (34.6%) etomidate listings were available for delivery to Australia and worldwide in the last year.
• The majority were advertised as vaping products (60.9%), followed by as pharmaceutical branded products (25.0%), as a powder (6.4%) or in an unknown form (7.7%) in the last year.

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Discussion

Etomidate was rarely detected on cryptomarkets during the study period. No listings were identified between June 2021 and October 2022, and only small numbers were observed until late 2025. From October 2025 onwards, availability increased reaching 38 listings in September 2026, although etomidate still accounted for less than 0.1% of all cryptomarket drug listings. No etomidate analogues were identified. About a third of the etomidate listings were available for delivery to Australia between October 2025 and September 2026. They were exclusively supplied through vendors offering worldwide delivery rather than being specific to Australia. Vaping products was the dominant form of etomidate advertised for sale. Pharmaceutical branded products were also available.

Several limitations should be noted. Cryptomarket listings are a proxy for availability rather than confirmed sales, and observed trends may be affected by market volatility, including platform closures. The listed drug that was being advertised also might not be the actual drug being sold (7,8). Our study was limited to English-language markets, excluding potentially relevant platforms (e.g., Russian-language markets) that may be relevant to Australia.

Overall, the findings suggest that etomidate remains an uncommon substance on cryptomarkets, but its availability has increased since late 2025. While vaping products as a popular form align with other reports, we additionally found evidence of products in pharmaceutical form on the cryptomarkets.

Recommended citation

Man N, Sutherland R, Bruno R, Barratt MJ, Peacock A. Availability of etomidate for purchase in Australia via cryptomarkets, June 2021 – September 2026. Drug Trends Bulletin Series. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney; 2026. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/32771

Funding and copyright

Drug Trends is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing under the Drug and Alcohol Program.

©NDARC, UNSW SYDNEY 2026 

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• Availability of etomidate for purchase in Australia via cryptomarkets, June 2021 – September 2026

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