The CEO of DropBit Larry Harmon has been arrested and is currently in Youngstown Ohio federal jail.
He is being charged with:
- Conspiracy to launder money instruments
- Operating unlicensed money transmitting business
Federal prosecutors are seeking:
- Millions of dollars in financial penalties
- All his properties to be seized
He now faces up to 30 years in prison. According to Larry's brother, his source of funds is central to his arrest. Larry ran a tool called Helix, allowing users to mix coins for better Bitcoin privacy. Helix exchanged at least 354,468 bitcoins, the equivalent of about $311 million at the time of the transactions, the indictment states. In addition to AlphaBay, the service was used in connection with the marketplaces Agora Market, Nucleus and Dream Market.
In terms of the DropBit app, despite the accounts being frozen, Larry’s brother and the developers are using their own money and time to keep it running. Many of us support financial privacy and individual liberty, but it seems that the line is blurred and criminals will use any tools at their disposal even if it compromises legitimate people.
Below is the article relating to the case.
https://bit.ly/31Q4SNH
