Richard Heart Secures Historic SEC Win: What This Means for Crypto's Future

The cryptocurrency industry just witnessed a landmark moment. The SEC officially dropped its entire case against Richard Heart and his projects HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX—marking the first time the regulator has completely retreated from a major cryptocurrency enforcement action. On April 21, 2025, the SEC’s deadline to file an amended complaint expired without any new legal filing, effectively ending three years of litigation that began in July 2023.

The Legal Breakthrough

This isn’t just another regulatory news cycle. Judge Carol Bagley Amon’s court had already dismissed the SEC’s original complaint on February 28, 2025. The agency was given until March 20 to submit a revised complaint, with an extension to April 21. When that deadline passed with no action, it signaled an unprecedented outcome: the SEC choosing not to pursue a case it had initiated.

Richard Heart emphasized the rarity of this situation, noting 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.” The original charges included allegations that Heart sold unregistered securities through HEX, which was marketed as a blockchain certificate of deposit offering yields up to 38%, as well as subsequent token sales for PulseChain and PulseX.

What makes this victory particularly significant is the legal precedent: the SEC essentially sued the software code itself, rather than traditional securities infrastructure. The dismissal sets a framework for how courts may view decentralized projects and token distribution going forward.

Market Response After Regulatory Clarity

The immediate aftermath tells an interesting story. HEX, the primary token of the ecosystem, has experienced dramatic swings throughout the legal proceedings. The token shed 99.6% of its value from its all-time high of $0.5108 before the SEC charges were filed, leaving it trading at just 0.2% of peak levels.

However, the litigation conclusion triggered a notable reversal. Since the court rulings and SEC’s decision to abandon the case, HEX has recorded a 14% gain in the last 24 hours alone, coupled with a 50% weekly pump and 30% increase over the past year. These movements suggest investors view the regulatory clarity as a positive catalyst for long-term development.

Why This Matters Beyond One Project

Richard Heart’s characterization of this outcome—that his projects now enjoy regulatory clarity “that almost no other coins have”—highlights a broader industry reality. Most cryptocurrency projects operate in a gray zone, uncertain about regulatory treatment. A court-backed dismissal of every SEC claim represents a significant data point for both developers and legal frameworks.

The precedent also raises questions about how regulators approach decentralized projects versus traditional financial platforms. If the SEC cannot sustain charges based on the current legal interpretations, it may force the agency to recalibrate its enforcement strategy across the entire crypto space.

This case represents one of the clearest regulatory wins the cryptocurrency industry has secured against major federal enforcement.