I recently saw that Richard Heart is celebrating what he calls a total victory against the SEC. The guy is right in a sense: a court dismissed the fraud charges in February, and in April the SEC decided not to appeal. So technically, Richard Heart achieved what very few in crypto can say they have: completely defeating U.S. regulators.

But here’s the interesting part. The victory was not due to lack of evidence, but because of jurisdiction. Judge Carol Bagley Amon ruled that since Richard Heart does not live in the U.S. and his messages about HEX were directed to a global audience, the SEC simply had no authority. The charges included securities fraud and registration violations, so the SEC claimed Heart used HEX to defraud investors. The agency even documented that he spent over $12 million of the proceeds on luxuries: watches, sports cars, a 555-carat diamond ring. Richard Heart is famous precisely for that, for constantly showing off his wealth. On social media, he posted videos of Louis Vuitton cases with watches valued at 9 million euros.

What many don’t know is that Richard Heart still faces serious issues in Europe. Finnish authorities are after him for tax evasion and alleged assault on a minor. In 2024, Helsinki police confiscated millions in luxury watches from a residence in Espoo. Investigators found that his tax declaration did not match the estimates from the tax agency. Europol also has him on its lists for physically assaulting a 16-year-old victim.

Now, about HEX itself. Industry analysts have been saying for years that it’s a modernized Ponzi scheme: promises of 38% annual returns, incentives to bring in new users, and Richard Heart controlled around 90% of the tokens. The price briefly surged when the SEC dismissal was announced, but looking at the full chart, the token has hardly moved since the legal issues began. At close, HEX trades at $0.002253 with a daily volume of just $250,000. It has some devoted followers on social media, but the project seems to be practically dead.

The real question is: how long can Richard Heart keep this going? He dodged U.S. regulation, yes, but that doesn’t mean HEX is safe or has a future. The legal problems in Europe are far from resolved, and a token that doesn’t move or have volume is a token that nobody really wants.