I just realized that there’s a pretty wild story unfolding in the crypto world that many underestimate. Richard Heart, the founder of HEX, has allegedly achieved a major victory after years of legal battles against the US SEC — at least if you take his statements on X seriously.

Here’s how it went down: In July 2023, the SEC sued Richard Heart and his projects (HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX) for securities fraud. The allegations were serious — alleged scams, illegal profits, the whole nine yards. But then something interesting happened: On February 28, a court dismissed the fraud claims. The reasoning was clever — the judge ruled that the SEC lacked jurisdiction because Richard Heart’s activities were not primarily aimed at US investors but at a global audience.

On April 21, the SEC then announced it would not refile the case. For Richard Heart, that was the perfect moment to proclaim that HEX, PulseChain, PulseX, and he himself had “completely defeated” the SEC. Whether you can really call that a victory or if it’s more of a technical knockout due to jurisdiction issues — that’s another question.

What really interests me: Richard Heart is not exactly discreet. The guy allegedly spends over $12 million in HEX profits on luxury goods — watches worth 9 million euros, sports cars, a 555-carat diamond ring. In videos, he shows Louis Vuitton cases full of expensive watches. That’s the opposite of discreet.

But here’s where it gets complicated: Richard Heart may have made peace with the US SEC, but Finnish authorities are after him for tax fraud and assault. In September 2024, Finnish media reported that he was taken into custody in absentia. Finnish police confiscated millions of euros worth of watches from an apartment in Espoo. Europol and Interpol have him on their wanted lists.

The bigger question remains: How long can HEX hold out? Industry observers have long argued that HEX is a Ponzi scheme promising 38% annual returns, incentivizing new user acquisition, and that Richard Heart owns about 90% of the tokens. The current HEX price is $0.002253, with transaction volumes of barely $250,000 in 24 hours. That looks more like a dying token than a winner.

So yes, Richard Heart has defeated the SEC — but in a way that says more about the limits of US regulation than about the legitimacy of HEX. And Europe’s problems are far from over.