Richard Heart Gains Legal Clarity: SEC Drops Proceeding Against His Projects

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided not to pursue further legal action against Richard Heart and his cryptocurrency projects. After a series of deadlines and extensions, the regulatory agency notified the court that it does not intend to file an amended complaint, marking the end of the legal dispute that had put pressure on the crypto ecosystem since 2023. Richard Heart welcomed this news as a definitive victory for his projects.

How the legal proceedings unfolded

The lawsuit against Richard Heart began in July 2023, when the SEC accused him of selling unregistered securities through his three main crypto projects: HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX. The initial allegation claimed that the founder had raised over $1 billion from investors, also asserting that Heart had diverted approximately $12 million of the funds raised to purchase luxury goods including sports cars, watches, and a 555-carat black diamond called “The Enigma.”

The SEC characterized HEX as a high-yield “blockchain certificate of deposit,” offering staking rates up to 38%, and argued that the founder had also orchestrated unauthorized additional sales of tokens related to the other two projects.

A turning point occurred on February 28, 2025, when a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed the SEC’s original complaint. However, the regulatory agency was granted an extension until March 20 to file a revised complaint with updated charges. This deadline was later extended to April 21, 2025. Despite these extensions, the SEC ultimately chose not to pursue further legal action.

Richard Heart’s statement and regulatory significance

Richard Heart described the conclusion of the case as the only instance in which the SEC has completely lost a crypto-related dispute, with all charges dismissed by the court. He emphasized that this outcome provides his projects with a level of regulatory clarity rarely achieved by other initiatives in the industry.

The importance of this ruling for the crypto industry lies in the fact that, according to Heart, the SEC had actually sued the software code itself. The closure of the case thus signifies that the regulatory framework has finally clarified how these projects can operate within U.S. jurisdiction.

Market performance during and after the legal dispute

HEX’s performance during the legal proceedings was complex. At the height of the legal battle, the token experienced a 99.6% decline from its all-time high of around $0.5108—a significant drop that severely impacted token holders during years of regulatory uncertainty.

However, since the start of 2025, when regulatory tensions began to ease, the token has shown signs of recovery. According to CoinGecko data, HEX has risen 14% in the past 24 hours since the announcement of the case’s conclusion, along with a 50% increase over the past week. Over the entire previous year, the token grew by 30%, indicating that investors have started to price in the removal of regulatory uncertainty related to the SEC case.

This positive price movement suggests that the market views the end of the dispute favorably, seeing it as a reduction in regulatory risk for Richard Heart’s projects. The gained regulatory clarity could potentially attract new capital to these projects, as legal uncertainty previously served as a significant barrier to adoption and investor confidence.