The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially concluded its legal proceedings against Richard Schueler, the founder of Hex and widely known as Richard Heart.
In a letter addressed to New York District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon, which Heart posted on X, the SEC confirmed that it “does not intend to file an amended complaint,” thereby upholding the previous court dismissal.
As previously reported, the SEC initially filed a lawsuit against Heart in July 2023, accusing him of raising over $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings related to his cryptocurrency projects: Hex (HEX), PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PSLX). In addition to these allegations, Heart was also accused of using investor funds for personal luxury purchases, including high-end watches and cars, while promoting his project tokens as avenues to “grandiose wealth.”
In February, the case took a notable turn when District Court Judge Amon dismissed the complaint, citing the SEC’s inability to prove that Heart’s actions were specifically targeted at U.S. investors. Although the regulator was granted the chance to amend and refile its case, it ultimately chose to drop the case altogether.
In response to the dismissal, Heart celebrated the outcome as a clear victory, stating that HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX had “defeated the SEC completely” and secured a level of “regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have achieved.” He further emphasized that this ruling was a win for the broader industry, declaring, “This is a victory for open-source software, cryptocurrency, and free speech.” Heart also argued that the case could have set a dangerous precedent, potentially inflicting billions of dollars in harm to the open-source and free software industries that power much of the Internet.
The SEC’s decision to drop the case against Heart is not entirely unexpected, particularly given the agency’s recent actions under the new Trump administration. In fact, the regulator’s shift in approach was further evidenced by its agreement in principle to drop its securities enforcement case against MetaMask, as revealed by Joseph Lubin, founder of blockchain firm Consensys. While awaiting a final decision, Lubin expressed confidence that this signals the end of the legal dispute between MetaMask and the SEC.
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