The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said last week that it had formally acquired legal ownership of more than $400 million in assets, including cryptocurrencies, real estate and monetary assets related to the Helix darknet mixing service. Helix was once widely used to hide the origin of illicit money flows on the black web.
Helix executive, Larry Dean Harmon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2021. In November 2024, Harmon was sentenced to 36 months in prison, accompanied by 3 years of probation and an order to confiscate all related assets. According to the DOJ, between 2014 and 2017, Helix processed more than $300 million in cryptocurrency transactions, primarily serving darknet marketplaces.
This asset recovery is considered one of the major victories of the US government in its efforts to crack down on money laundering and financial crimes in the cryptocurrency sector.
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