The US government now has legal title to more than $400 million in seized cryptocurrency, real estate and cash linked to the once-popular darknet bitcoin mixing service Helix, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday. Mixed services like Helix are designed to hide the origin and destination of crypto transactions by pooling and redistributing funds, a practice long scrutinized by authorities and regulators. The Justice Department alleged that Helix in particular was used by drug traffickers and other criminals to launder money.
According to court documents, Helix was among the most widely used mixing services on the dark web, particularly by online drug traffickers seeking to launder illicit profits. Investigators said Helix processed at least 354,468 bitcoins, valued at approximately $300 million at the time, much of it linked to darknet drug markets. Helix’s trader, Larry Dean Harmon, charged commissions and fees for these transactions.
Harmon pleaded guilty in August 2021 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced in November 2024 to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, along with a sentence of forfeiture of money and forfeiture of seized property.
Harmon also operated Grams, a darknet search engine designed to connect users to major darknet markets. Helix’s application programming interface (API) allowed darknet markets to integrate the mixer directly into their bitcoin withdrawal systems, allowing
Since 2020, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division has obtained more than 180 cybercrime convictions and court orders for the return of more than $350 million in victim funds, according to the Department of Justice.
