The man who created online black market Silk Road has gone on trial in New York for his part in the service, which is thought to have enabled $200m (£132m) worth of drug deals.
Ross Ulbricht is accused of making $18m (£11.9m) in the enterprise, which facilitated a million deals over three years, and potentially faces life in prison if convicted.
Timothy Howard, assistant US attorney, said: "We are here to pull the curtain back on the dark and secret world. Behind that curtain was one man: Russ Ulbricht and his laptop."
Visitors to Silk Road had to access the site using the Tor anonymity network, and once connected could purchase a range of drugs, which Howard claimed made up 95% of available products, as well as other illicit services for fake IDs and hacking.
Defence lawyer Joshua Dratel told the jury that Ulbricht was a "perfect fall guy" for the scheme, conceding that he had created the website as an "economic experiment", but had handed it on to others once it grew too big for him.
He added that Ross had been brought back into the Silk Road fold as a setup, with his colleagues intending that he take the blame for the website.
"Ross is not a drug dealer. Ross is not a kingpin. Ross was not involved in any conspiracy," he said, adding that the real Dread Pirate Roberts, the alias used by the Silk Road chief, was still at large.
The US government also alleged Ulbricht solicited six assassinations to protect the site from collapsing, none of which took place.
The trial continues, and is expected to last between four and six weeks.
