Topic 5 stories, 10 agency actions, 2024–2026
Crypto mixers
Crypto mixers pool coins to hide where they came from. This is the record of the US cases against the people who ran them, from Bitcoin Fog and Helix to Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash, and against some who used them to launder money.
2026
- What happened after the North Korea DeFi warning: Bybit, Tornado Cash, 71 addressesLook-back
- A Bulgarian man serving a federal sentence is charged with moving about $290,000 in forfeited cryptocurrency through exchanges and mixers.DOJ
- The government obtained final forfeiture of over $400 million in crypto, real estate and other assets tied to the Helix darknet mixer.DOJ
2025
- US crypto enforcement in 2025: SEC actions fell to 26 as seizures rose to 28Look-back
- Two co-founders of the Samourai Wallet crypto mixer were sentenced to five and four years in prison for laundering over $237 million.DOJ
- Co-founders of Samourai Wallet crypto mixer pleaded guilty to conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmitter moving crime proceeds.DOJ
- A Tornado Cash co-founder was convicted by a jury of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business moving over $1B.DOJ
- Three Russian nationals were charged with money laundering for allegedly operating the crypto mixers Blender.io and Sinbad.io.DOJ
2024
- Q4 2024 in US crypto enforcement: two darknet mixers sentenced, Celsius founder pleadsLook-back
- An Ohio man who operated the Helix darknet bitcoin mixer was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to forfeit over $400M.DOJ
- The operator of the Bitcoin Fog darknet mixer was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for laundering about $400 million in bitcoin.DOJ
- Q2 2024 in US crypto enforcement: Cred, HashFlare and Samourai Wallet chargedLook-back
- Two co-founders of crypto mixer Samourai Wallet were arrested and charged with money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting conspiracies.DOJ
- Q1 2024 in US crypto enforcement: 49 actions, from OneCoin’s lawyer to Bitcoin FogLook-back
- A Russian-Swedish man was convicted by a jury of running the Bitcoin Fog darknet mixer, which laundered about $400 million in bitcoin.DOJ
Hacks come from the hacks ledger and agency actions from the enforcement ledger, which starts in 2024. An action is listed when its announcement’s summary mentions this topic. Being mentioned doesn't mean a company did anything wrong. Look-backs were written later and sit under the period they cover.