The U.S. Department of Justice has finalized the forfeiture of more than $400 million in assets tied to Helix, a darknet crypto mixer that prosecutors said played a central role in laundering proceeds from illegal online marketplaces.
In a statement released Thursday, the DOJ said a final court order issued last week has granted the government legal title to seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and financial accounts connected to Helix’s operations.
According to the DOJ, Helix processed at least 354,468 BTC between 2014 and 2017, an amount worth about $300 million at the time, primarily for users seeking to obscure the source of illicit funds.
Helix was operated by Larry Dean Harmon, who pleaded guilty in August 2021 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Harmon was sentenced in November 2024 to three years in prison, followed by supervised release.
Crypto mixers
Crypto mixers have featured prominently in recent lobbying, with policymakers and industry participants debating how these tools should be regulated.
In December, President Donald Trump said he was reviewing a potential pardon for Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of the bitcoin wallet and mixing service Samourai Wallet, who was convicted on money laundering and unlicensed money transmission charges. In November, Rodriguez was sentenced to five years in prison.
Meanwhile, the case of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm has also drawn attention, following his conviction last year on money laundering and sanctions-related charges. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly supported him, framing the case as part of a broader discussion over how legal systems should treat developers of decentralized privacy tools.
In a letter made public earlier this month, Buterin argued that privacy tools like Tornado Cash are essential protections against pervasive data exploitation and should not be treated as criminal by virtue of the software alone. Storm awaits sentencing and faces a potential prison term of up to five years.
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