Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions people ask most about Zion Market: the URL, staying online, coins, safety, and what to do when a mirror is down.
What is the Zion Market URL?
Zion has no permanent single address and no clearnet site. It publishes several onion mirrors, all resolving to the same market. Copy a current one from the mirrors page and verify it against the login header before signing in.
How do I know I am on the real Zion Market?
Run two checks: confirm the address is on the PGP-signed list, and compare the address the login page prints against your browser bar. A clone cannot pass both. Never type an onion from memory.
Why is Zion sometimes slow or unreachable?
Onion services depend on the Tor network. During network-wide congestion every onion is slow at once, including Zion. Request a new circuit, try the other mirror, and check whether ordinary Tor browsing is also slow.
Which coin should I use?
Monero by default, for its privacy. Bitcoin when a vendor requires it, routed through your own wallet. USDT for price stability, sent on the correct network. See the wallet section.
Does Zion ask for my recovery phrase to log in?
No. A genuine login never asks for the recovery mnemonic. A page that does is a phishing clone; close it.
What should I do if a mirror is down?
Switch to the other mirror; both share one backend. If both fail for several minutes while the rest of Tor works, check the incident log. A small on-market balance means an outage is never a crisis.
Is it safe to use a phone?
It is possible with Tor Browser for Android at the Safest level, but weaker than a desktop or Tails session. Prefer desktop or Tails for a real transaction.
Should I ever finalise early?
Almost never, and never on an unproven vendor. Finalising early releases escrow and ends your dispute path. Let escrow protect you.