What strikes me as odd is that it's a clearnet forum, which are trivial to de-anonymize unlike Tor hidden services (although even those are de-cloaked and shut

What strikes me as odd is that it's a clearnet forum, which are trivial to de-anonymize unlike Tor hidden services (although even those are de-cloaked and shut down by the authorities). It was only a matter of time before the admin got arrested for operating so openly. And there's nothing noble in selling breach data, that stuff is like radioactive waste.