Share this article
Ohio Resident Charged With Laundering $311M in Bitcoin for AlphaBay
Ohio resident Larry Dean Harmon, 36, has been charged with laundering more than $300 million in bitcoin for darknet marketplace AlphaBay.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:17 p.m. Published Feb 12, 2020, 7:49 p.m.
Ohio resident Larry Dean Harmon, 36, has been charged with laundering more than $300 million in bitcoin for darknet marketplace AlphaBay.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The man from Bath Township, about 30 miles south of Cleveland, was arrested Feb. 6 for conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter business and money transmission without a license, according to cleveland.com. He is being prosecuted in the Northern District of Ohio.
Prosecutors said Harmon played a major role in scrambling illicit cryptocurrency transactions for AlphaBay. He is alleged to have run a mixing service called “Helix” that worked in conjunction with AlphaBay – one of the leading so-called “darknet marketplaces” accessible only via Tor browser. AlphaBay went offline in 2017.
Helix also worked with a handful of other marketplaces, the indictment said. It began operations in July 2014 and ran through December 2017.
In total, Helix is said to have scrambled at least 354,468 bitcoin. The total value at the times of transaction is estimated to be over $311 million. That sum is worth $3.7 billion at today's prices.
More For You
Solana CME Futures Fell Short of BTC and ETH Debuts, but There's a Catch
When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.
What to know:
- Solana's SOL futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Monday, with a notional daily volume of $12.3 million and $7.8 million in open interest, significantly lower than the debuts of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures.
- Despite the seemingly lackluster debut, when adjusted to market value, SOL's first-day figures are more in line with BTC's and ETH's, according to K33 Research.
- Despite the bearish market conditions, the launch of CME SOL futures offers new ways for institutions to manage their exposure to the token, said Joshua Lim of FalconX.
Top Stories
