Red Notice, Blue Rug: Richard Heart's HEX Holders Watch $160M Evaporate While Cops Seize $4M and 64 Watches ⌚

Richard Heart, the founder of crypto projects Hex, PulseChain and PulseX, was detained with his wife in Istanbul on Wednesday in a joint operation by Turkish police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), according to local media reports. Authorities took Herz and his wife into custody at a residence in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district after monitoring the address, Ihlas Haber Ajansı (IHA) reported.

Police seized a dozen mobile phones, several laptops, graphics cards, rifles, pistols, two drones, gold bracelets and a large amount of cash in different currencies, IHA said. Turkish media also reported the seizure of $4 million in cash and 64 luxury watches, though police have not publicly confirmed those figures. Heart's legal name is Richard James Schueler.

The arrest follows an Interpol Red Notice issued in 2024 at the request of Finland, seeking Heart on a single charge of aggravated tax fraud. Finnish authorities have also sought him over an alleged assault. Interpol described the notice as "a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action," and noted that it "is not an international arrest warrant." A spokesperson for Finland's National Bureau of Investigations declined to comment. It was not immediately clear whether Finnish authorities have requested Heart's extradition from Turkey.

The HEX token fell sharply on the news, dropping nearly 30% over 24 hours to $0.0006 as of 11:28 am UTC on Thursday. The decline erased roughly $160 million from the token's market value, taking it from more than $500 million on Wednesday to $340 million by press time, according to CoinMarketCap. HEX previously topped $0.44 in September 2021.

Heart faces additional legal exposure stemming from U.S. proceedings. In July 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Heart and three entities he controlled — Hex, PulseChain and PulseX — with conducting unregistered offerings of crypto asset securities that raised more than $1 billion. The regulator also accused him of misappropriating at least $12 million of investor funds to purchase luxury goods, including sports cars, watches and a 555-carat black diamond known as "The Enigma." U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon dismissed the complaint in February 2025 for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the activities were not sufficiently directed at U.S. investors. In April 2025, the SEC said it did not intend to refile the securities fraud complaint, ending the case, which Heart's lawyer called "a complete victory."