Helix “Bitcoin Mixer” Founder Arrested in the United States

The 36-year-old Ohio man is accused of having laundered near $ 300 million for some cybercriminals of darknet through its service of " Bitcoin Mixer ".

The US Department of Justice just stopped Larry Harmon. The owner ofHelix is accused of having facilitated the money laundering on his service and operated a money transfer business unlicensed.

Launched in 2014, Helix is a service of crypto-mix which allows you to mix transactions to make bitcoins or other less traceable and identifiable cryptocurrencies, especially to hide the true source of funds.

According to the prosecution, Helix would have moved more than 350,000 bitcoins – approximately $ 300 million at the time of the events (2014 to 2017) – on behalf of its customers.

The majority of the volume would come from darknet, including the popular market place ALPHABAY, closed in 2017 and with which Harmon had established a partnership to promote the use of its service.

Helix would have laundered hundreds of millions of dollars from illicit products. This indictment emphasizes that trying to mask virtual currency transactions in this way is a crime, and that the Department can and will ensure that crime does not pay, ”Said Deputy Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Department of Justice's criminal division.

Last year, Europol announced to have closed Bestmixer.io, another important crypto-mixing service.