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Running your HRT Business

Updated July 19, 2023

It is up to you to check the laws in your specific locale to determine if this is legal or not. We would never advocate for you breaking the law. This info is for educational purposes only. HRT Cat cannot be held responsible for what you do with the info on this page or info anywhere else on this site. Delete your browser history. Burn your laptop. Move to the forest and join a commune of trans witches.

We’re going to give you some info about how to run an online business selling HRT. We can only discuss opsec as it pertains to the United States, so please check your local laws etc to see how certain things transfer over. This is aligned with the mission of HRT Cat because we want to see HRT get into the hands of those who need it. While we’re, perhaps unsurprisingly, not fans of capitalism, we recognize that selling vials is the most efficient way to distribute them. That said, a lot of this info could apply to a mutual aid based org.

Join the network

A lot of DIY users talk through various online platforms. As word of HRT Cat spreads, folks continue to demand higher quality HRT from their homebrew suppliers. While no one is able to verify that you are following our steps correctly, by virtue of you being here it shows that you’re putting in some of that effort.

Anyone who would like to can put this badge on their website. You can also make your own, or just say the words. We appreciate if you link back to hrt.cat/network.

People want to know what standards their homebrewers are following. We see lots of shit talk about various brewers across the different channels. Some people will even say “So and So looks like a good choice, but they don’t actually disclose their process.” So by directly linking to this website you are able to do that.

We believe the ultimate goal of homebrew is a mutual aid project, even when we choose to have profit involved. We understand that some people will want to hide their sources on how they learned to make DIY, but we hope you’ll consider the larger trans community and help spread the word about HRT Cat.

As much as donations are nice to help us keep this project going (and yes, they really do help), spreading the word is the number one thing you can do for us.

Testosterone

Before we start let’s discuss selling testosterone alongside estradiol. There is an obvious and highly understandable aversion to selling T due to the way many governments classify the hormone. This has created a vacuum of DIY T all over the world, as most producers are trans femmes who will only touch E. We’d like to call this out as problematic. Trans masculine people have a much more difficult time accessing hormones than trans femmes, and as HRT producers we have the power to close that gap.

Brewing T is the same exact process as brewing E. You just swap out the hormones for each other and change a few ratios around. You can even get raw T at most places you can get raw E.

We strongly believe that if you’re already going to take on the risk of selling E, that you should consider taking on the risk of T also. If selling HRT is about giving back to the trans community, then selling just E is neglecting half of our community.

Please consider it.

Digital Security

  • Purchase a dedicated laptop that can run Tails. Buy the laptop used, and in cash. Ideally unseen by cameras when doing so, wear a face mask and cover your ears to combat facial recognition. Not all laptops are compatible with Tails. Lenovo ThinkPads are usually a good choice.
  • only deal in Monero XMR cryptocurrency. no BTC, ETH, USD, etc. Only use the XMR wallet on your Tails laptop.
  • Learn how to use the Tails operating system. Your persistent storage should be encrypted and have a really good password. Look up what a really good password for Tails is.
  • Everything you do for your business is strictly done only on this laptop, only on Tails. Strictly.
  • If you’re able to, only use this laptop when at a public place such as coffee shops etc. so that you don’t have to access the Tor network over your home wifi. Rotate the shops you go to. This is a nice to have but not required.
  • Use protonmail as your email service, access it over Tor.
  • Use one protonmail account that’s going to be listed on your website, use a second, unlisted account that manages all of your back end stuff. Example: hotvials69[at]proton[dot]me is our public email, and 3903uthksb2snbg49[at]proton[dot]me is the account that actually controls our access to our webserver etc. This makes it that much harder for people to hack and track you.
  • Use the password manager that’s built into tails. every. single. thing. needs a unique password.
  • Learn how to use PGP and use it as much as possible. Put your public key on your website. Most of your customers won’t know how to use it, but some will and that’s good.
  • Checkout the aggregator website “tor taxi” to help you find the major websites that dominate the darkweb. some of them might even help you buy XMR without using your social security number!
  • purchase domain and webserver on njalla using XMR. we love njalla.
  • Do not use a database on your website, meaning no wordpress, etc. It’s a weak point. Instead, build a static website using either pure html, or something like Jekyll (what HRT Cat is built with).
  • Display your products on your website, and instruct people to email you with their order. You can then provide them with a unique, disposable, XMR address to pay you to.

Okay. Now you have an order, and you were even paid for it! Time to ship!

Shipping

We love the methodology of Vanna Pharma. They label all vials they sell with fake labels as if they’re essential oils meant to go into oil diffusers. We would add a batch number onto these as well so that folks can go to your website and lookup their batch number, like how Tyger does here.

  • no fingerprints on vials, packaging, labels, etc. None. Ever. Wear gloves. Wear gloves even when picking up packages to drop in the mailbox. No fingerprints ever.
  • purchase all shipping supplies in person with cash while wearing a face mask. Dark web vendors (selling large volumes of HIGHLY illegal drugs) have been busting using amazon purchase histories.
  • Use thin padded envelopes. No vial clinking noises allowed.
  • use stamps ONLY. no pre-paid postage, no tracking numbers, no credit cards, no ID.
  • packages MUST have a VALID return address with a fake but believable name. That address should NEVER be you. Don’t choose an abandoned house. Don’t choose your republican neighbor as a return address, as they’ll be much more likely to call the police if a package is accidentally returned to them. Use stereotypes and discrimination to choose return addresses that are more likely to have people throw away the package instead of call the cops. Rotate this address. Failure to have a return address is a MAJOR red flag with the USPS internal audit system.
  • Only mail packages from a street corner USPS big blue mail collector. ensure you are not being recorded by any cameras at this drop site, this includes neighbors doorbell cameras. Try to be filmed as little as possible on your way to drop off the packages, and always hold the packages in a larger bag (like a tote or purse) so cameras can’t see you have the small envelopes.
  • Regularly rotate the USPS drop-off you use. The return address you choose should always match the zipcode, or even the neighborhood of the drop-off site.
  • No handwriting on the packages. Print labels for the addresses.
  • On a regular basis, rotate the envelope brand, labels brand, fonts, and design of stamps that you use. It helps keep your packages unidentifiable.
  • Use the correct amount of postage. Too little will have it returned to your fake address which will raise a red flag with your neighbor. Too much will raise a red flag with USPS’s internal audit system.

This method does not include a tracking system. It instead relies on the honor of your customer to not lie to you about not receiving their package. That sucks, but you know what sucks even more? Going to prison as a trans person.

IRL Security

  • This project of yours is on a need to know basis. Don’t tell your friends you’re doing it unless you are recruiting their direct assistance. Even then, they less they know the better. The more information is siloed the safer everyone is.
  • Tails is run off a flash drive. Find a fantastic hiding spot for this flash drive when it’s not in use. One that might go overlooked if someone were to turn your living space upsidedown.
  • Don’t leave your brew supplies out in the open.
  • Don’t advertise your business using anything but your Tails laptop!
  • For ultimate safety, don’t offer homebrew to people in your local community. No hooking people up with hormones who you see asking on social media, for example.

Crypto

We don’t know a lot about withdrawing crypto safely. Keep as much of it as possible in your wallet, as you will be using it to purchase some of your raw supplies. Using your new darknet powers do some research on how best to withdraw. Try to avoid transferring it to coinbase and just straight cashing out.

Maybe by now you’ve seen the “Dark Net Bible.” Well there’s also something called the “Dark Net Vendors Bible.” It’s hard to find, check the forums on tor.taxi. There’s an outdated PDF circulating with this info. Someone has taken that and is trying to revamp it on a dedicated forum. Again, hard to find, but you can find it through the forums.

Anyway, this vendors bible might have info about how to safely cash out.

Giving Back

If you’ve read this far then it seems like HRT Cat has been pretty helpful for your business. We’d appreciate if you could support this project by sending us a donation! We have invested hundreds and hundreds of hours into creating this website, and we plan to invest many hundreds more.

Donated funds will directly contribute to server space, experiments, and HRT mutual aid. Please consider the value of this website.

With love, The HRT Cats