Ohio-based owner of Helix, a bitcoin-mixing platform, has pleaded guilty to laundering more than $300 million in bitcoin.

Admission of guilt:

The owner of the Helix platform pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the District of Columbia last Wednesday.

According press release Issued by the US Department of Justice, the Ohio resident has operated a money laundering service destined for users of the dark web.

The defendant started the bitcoin mixing service in 2014, which was in operation until 2017.

A bitcoin mixer hides source cryptocurrency transactions by mixing them with other transactions, making them difficult to trace.

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During the time the founder of this platform was operating, the bitcoin mixer reportedly processed about 354,468 bitcoins, worth over $300 million at the time, and worth $15.9 billion at the price of bitcoin today.

US authorities reported that a large proportion of the money came from darknet markets.

The founder of the Bitcoin mixing platform collaborated with AlphaBay, the darknet market giant from 2014 until the takeover of the platform and its decommissioning in 2017.

AlphaBay, along with other dark web stores, used the defendant’s bitcoin mixing services to launder money obtained from illegal activities.

The 36-year-old Ohio resident was arrested in February 2020.

According to the US authorities, the defendant operated the bitcoin mixer solely to hide criminal transactions on the dark web from law enforcement.

Stephen MD Antono, the assistant director of the FBI in charge of this Bitcoin-mixing platform, said:

The defendant admitted that he conspired with dark web sellers to launder bitcoins from drug smuggling and other illegal activities.

Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to infiltrate and shut down crypto money laundering networks that support cybercrime organizations.

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While the punishment date has not yet been announced, the defendant could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Also, the bitcoin mixer operator will pay mandatory compensation, a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, and a supervised release period of no more than three years.

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