In brief
- Hex founder Richard Heart has claimed victory over the SEC in his securities fraud case.
- The regulator failed to file an amended complaint after a federal judge dismissed the case in February.
- Heart remains the subject of an Interpol red notice over charges of tax fraud and assault.
Richard Heart says he has “defeated the SEC completely” after the U.S. regulator abandoned its fraud lawsuit against him.
The crypto entrepreneur—who founded HEX, PulseChain and PulseX—had been accused of selling unregistered securities and misleading investors.
A federal judge dismissed the case in February after concluding that the SEC had failed to prove Heart’s statements specifically targeted American consumers.
The regulator was given until April 21 to file an amended complaint, but has since confirmed that it intends to abandon the case altogether.
In a tweet, Heart claimed that he and his projects “have achieved regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.”
“The SEC walked away from some other cryptocurrency cases voluntarily, but this is the only case where the SEC lost and crypto won across the board, with a dismissal in court of every single claim the SEC brought,” he wrote.
He went on to describe the development as a “victory for open-source software, cryptocurrency, and free speech.”
In a follow-up tweet, Heart said that he “beat the SEC in court,” adding that, “The SEC did not drop its case against me. The judge completely dismissed their case for both failure to state a claim and lack of jurisdiction.”
The SEC’s new direction
The SEC has dropped a slew of investigations against crypto companies in recent months—reflecting Donald Trump’s favorable stance toward the industry.
And earlier this week, Paul Atkins was sworn into office as the new SEC chairman. Previously an advisor to several digital asset firms, he has vowed to adopt less of a heavy-handed approach than his predecessor Gary Gensler.
In the now-abandoned lawsuit, the SEC had accused Heart of claiming that HEX was “built to be the highest appreciating asset that has ever existed in the history of man.” It was also claimed he had used millions of dollars of investor cash to make lavish purchases of luxury items.
Heart still faces Interpol red notice
Nonetheless, Heart—whose real name is Richard Schueler—remains the subject of an Interpol red notice and appears on a list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, on charges of tax fraud and physically assaulting a teenager by grabbing their hair, knocking them to the ground and punching them up to five times in the face.
According to CoinGecko data, HEX has risen by 12.7% over the past 24 hours—extending to gains of 49% since this time last week.
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