Hex Founder Richard Heart Arrested in Istanbul on Finnish Interpol Red Notice
Key Takeaways
- •Richard Heart, the founder of, PulseChain, and PulseX, was detained in Istanbul on Wednesday in a joint operation involving Turkish police and intelligence officers.
- •The arrest followed an Interpol Red Notice issued after Finnish authorities sought Heart over allegations of tax fraud and assault.
- •Turkish media reported that $4 million in cash, 64 luxury watches, firearms, and electronic equipment were seized during the raid, but police have not yet confirmed those figures.
- •The U.S. SEC charged Heart in 2023 with raising over $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings but dropped the case in 2025 after a judge dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction.
- •The next key developments are whether Turkey pursues extradition tied to the Finnish Red Notice and whether authorities confirm the reported seizures.
Richard Heart, the founder of the crypto projects Hex, PulseChain and PulseX, was arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday in a joint operation by Turkish police and intelligence officers, local media reported.
Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, was detained alongside his wife at a property in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district, according to Turkish English-language daily Daily Sabah. Authorities reportedly seized $4 million in cash, 64 luxury watches, firearms and electronic equipment during a raid on the crypto founder's residence, although police have yet to confirm those figures.
The arrest followed an Interpol Red Notice issued after Finnish authorities sought Heart over allegations of tax fraud and assault. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action. Such notices are not arrest warrants, and it is up to each country that receives one to decide what legal effect to give it and whether to act on an extradition request.
Heart first gained prominence in crypto as the creator of Hex, a token launched in 2019 and marketed as a blockchain-based certificate of deposit. He later launched PulseChain, a blockchain network created through a fork of Ethereum, and PulseX, a decentralized exchange built on that network.
Wednesday's detention is the latest development in years of legal trouble for Heart, who has faced allegations in both the United States and Finland.
In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Heart and three crypto projects with raising more than $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings. The regulator also accused Heart and PulseChain of misappropriating at least $12 million in investor funds.
The SEC dropped the case in 2025 after a judge dismissed the complaint, citing a lack of jurisdiction because the projects did not specifically target investors in the U.S., as CoinDesk reported at the time. The immediate questions now are whether Turkish authorities move forward with extradition proceedings tied to the Finnish Red Notice, and whether police confirm the reported seizures from the Istanbul raid.
