• Advertise
  • Submit a Press Release
NewsBTC
Bitcoin & cryptocurrency news
Crypto.com Logo
  • Home
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Cardano
    • Dogecoin
    • Ripple
    • DeFi
    • NFT
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • Play GamesTry
  • Bet & WinTry
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Cardano
    • Dogecoin
    • Ripple
    • DeFi
    • NFT
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • Play GamesTry
  • Bet & WinTry
No Result
View All Result
NewsBTC
No Result
View All Result
Helix, a laundromat
Nexo Logo

The Man Behind Helix, A Bitcoin Mixer, Pleads Guilty To Laundering Over $300M

Eduardo Próspero by Eduardo Próspero
11 months ago
in Bitcoin
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Advertisement

Bitcoin is not a useful tool for money launderers and here’s proof. 38-years-old Larry Dean Harmon admitted to being the operator of Helix, a Bitcoin Mixer service that operated on the Darknet. According to the US Department of Justice, “Harmon advertised Helix to customers on the Darknet to conceal transactions from law enforcement.” What was this man thinking? 

Related Reading | DIY Bitcoin ATM Money Launderer Pleads Guilty

The press release continues:

5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!

Harmon admitted that Helix partnered with several Darknet markets, including AlphaBay, Evolution, Cloud 9 and others, to provide bitcoin money laundering services for market customers. In total, Helix moved over 350,000 bitcoin – valued at over $300 million at the time of the transactions – on behalf of customers, with the largest volume coming from Darknet markets. Harmon further admitted that he conspired with Darknet vendors and marketplace administrators to launder such bitcoins generated through illegal drug trafficking offenses on those Darknet marketplaces.

The blockchain sees it all and registers every transaction forever. A mixer, also known as a tumbler, is a service that seeks to anonymize transactions. They pool together funds from several parties, mix them up, and serve supposedly clean coins to everyone involved. At the very least, the coins can’t be traced to a specific address. For that, they charge a fee.

BTCUSD price chart for 08/19/2021 - TradingView

BTC price chart for 08/19/2021 on Currency.com | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

Even Helix Didn’t Know How Much It Was Laundering. And Bitcoin Is Money

Betraying everything that’s sacred, Larry Dean Harmon’s defense was that he wasn’t guilty because Bitcoin is not money. The law went on the record and confirmed what Bitcoiners have been saying for years, the Washington Post reports: 

BitStarz Player Lands $2,459,124 Record Win! Could you be next big winner?
Get 110 USDT Futures Bonus for FREE!

A line of reasoning rejected by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell.“ ‘Money,’ ” she wrote, “commonly means a medium of exchange, method of payment, or store of value. Bitcoin is these things.”

That’s on the record. The law knows that Bitcoin is money.

In any case, one thing about mixers is that there are no humans involved in the process. The system does it all. In Helix’s case, apparently, no one even knew how much money they were laundering. Bitcoin.com quotes Harmon’s defense attorney Charles Flood:

“One interesting thing about this case is there was a double-blind system Harmon had set up with Helix,” Flood said in the federal courtroom on Wednesday. “While he completely acknowledges that he violated the law and was in fact laundering money and knew it was drug proceeds … he does not know the exact amount laundered,” Flood added.

What Will The Law Do With Larry Dean Harmon?

For the punishment, we quote once again the original press release:

As part of his plea, Harmon also agreed to the forfeiture of more than 4,400 bitcoin, valued at more than $200 million at today’s prices, and other seized properties that were involved in the money laundering conspiracy. Harmon will be sentenced at a date to be determined and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, and mandatory restitution.

Ouch.

Related Reading | Top Bitcoin Tumblers Google Result Links To Sites Stealing

This all leads to our original statement, Bitcoin is not a useful tool for money launderers. Or for criminals in general. To drive the point home, the Wall Street Journal quotes Ari Redbord. He’s “a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a former senior adviser at Treasury,” and says:

The guilty plea shows U.S. law enforcement is pursuing cryptocurrency mixers with connections to the Darknet and illicit activities, while the transparency of blockchain enables them to trace the funds.

“The nature of cryptocurrency is to allow law enforcement to have unique visibility on financial flow where they never had before.”

And that’s another thing Bitcoiners have been saying all along.

Featured Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay - Charts by TradingView
Tags: Ari RedbordBeryl A. Howellbetting on the blockchainBitcoin criminalsBitcoin is moneyBitcoin MixerBitcoin tumblerCharles FlooddarknetHelixLarry Dean HarmonThe blockchainUS Department of Justicewall street journalWashington Post
Tweet123Share196ShareSend
Win up to $1,000,000 in One Spin at CryptoSlots
Eduardo Próspero

Eduardo Próspero

Eduardo Prospero is an author, a content writer, and a professional rapper. A Bitcoin maximalist in disguise. Working on a Bitcoin book. Venezuelan. He wrote a novel, but it's only available in Spanish. It's called "La Tormenta."

Related Posts

Bitcoin network

Bitcoin Enters Hibernation Mode As Network Activity Lulls

25 mins ago
Fed Announces Inflation Warnings As Bitcoin Whales Remain In Wait Mode

Fed Announces Inflation Warnings As Bitcoin Whales Remain In Wait Mode

4 hours ago
Mining Operators Fret As Bitcoin Looses Ground, What Lies Ahead For The Mining Community

Mining Operators Fret As Bitcoin Looses Ground, What Lies Ahead For The Mining Community

4 hours ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Slides Under $20K – Another Collapse In The Offing?

5 hours ago
bitcoin performance

Bitcoin Records Worst Performance For June, Will It Get Better From Here?

18 hours ago
Bitcoin whale

Tracking Whales, What This Bitcoin Divergence Could Hint About BTC’s Price

22 hours ago

Premium Partners

Top Brokers

PrimeXBT

PrimeXBT

Review · Visit

Top Casinos

BitStarz

BitStarz

Review · Visit
7BitCasino

7BitCasino

Review · Visit
BC.Game

BC.Game

Review · Visit
Punt Casino

Punt Casino

Review · Visit
mBit

mBit

Review · Visit
CryptoGames

CryptoGames

Review · Visit
Bspin

Bspin

Review · Visit

Sportsbooks

1xBit

1xBit

Review · Visit
BC.Game

BC.Game

Review · Visit

Secure Your Finances With These Top DeFi Tokens: Gnox (GNOX), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX)

June 30, 2022

XT.com Welcomes Cryptostone (CPS) to Its Growing Exchange

June 30, 2022

Crypto Crash: Bitcoin Falling Helplessly, Find Succour in These Two Coins

June 29, 2022

The Stock Market Crash Has Spurred Investors To Invest In Cryptocurrencies Like Mushe Token (XMU) and Quant (QNT)

June 29, 2022

TRON Breaks the 100 Million Users Mark, Celebrates Mainnet 4th Anniversary, and Announces Huge Hiring Push Amid Market Meltdown

June 29, 2022

ABOUT US

NewsBTC is a cryptocurrency news service that covers bitcoin news today, technical analysis & forecasts for bitcoin price and other altcoins. Here at NewsBTC, we are dedicated to enlightening everyone about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

We cover BTC news related to bitcoin exchanges, bitcoin mining and price forecasts for various cryptocurrencies.

COMPANY

  • Advertising
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy Center
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Contact

Technical Analysis

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Tezos (XTZ)

LINKS

Crypto Prices from Nomics

Cryptocurrency news

  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Chainlink
  • Cardano
  • EOS
  • Tezos

© 2021 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Cardano
    • Dogecoin
    • Ripple
    • DeFi
    • NFT
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • Play Games
  • Bet & Win

© 2021 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.