The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on October 19 said that it had charged Larry Dean Harmon, the creator of Bitcoin’s first mixer, for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

• The $60 million civil lawsuit filing focuses on Harmon’s work on Helix and Coin Ninja, the former being the first coin mixer for Bitcoin
• He has been charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business
• The official filing states that Helix executed over 1,225,000 transactions worth over $311 million
• Cryptocurrency mixers obfuscate transaction data to preserve privacy by mixing coins with that of other users
• US authorities have stepped up their investigations on cryptocurrencies entities, including a case against BitMEX and its founders