Bitcoin Riches
to Prison Struggles

My name is Larry Harmon. I created Helix, a darknet Bitcoin mixer, because I was obsessed with the potential of cryptocurrency and what Bitcoin could become. I was the first person in the United States ever prosecuted for running a crypto mixer. After my indictment, the government raided my home and seized approximately $500 million worth of Bitcoin.

What followed was years of cooperating with the feds. I used my skills to help them trace and recover cryptocurrency, not just from my own projects, but from other darknet platforms too. That cooperation earned me a reduced sentence—10 months in federal prison instead of the original guidelines.

Blocks and Chains started as a prison blog. Every week, I wrote raw, honest journal entries about what life was like inside, along with reflections on the books I was reading, my fitness journey, and what it meant to start over from rock bottom. The posts are personal, sometimes painful, but they’re real. If you want to know what prison is like for someone who once built multi-million-dollar Bitcoin infrastructure—and then lost it all—start reading.