HEX, the cryptocurrency founded by Richard Heart, crashed nearly 50% on October 14 after reports emerged that Turkish authorities had detained the controversial crypto entrepreneur in Istanbul under an Interpol Red Notice requested by Finland.
According to CoinGecko, HEX on PulseChain was trading at approximately $0.001247, down 45.5% over the preceding 24 hours. The token fell to an intraday low of $0.0008737 from a high of $0.002402, representing a peak-to-trough decline of approximately 64%.
The crash came as Turkish media reported that Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, had been taken into custody during a joint operation involving Turkish intelligence officers and police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district.
The selling also extended to other cryptocurrencies associated with Heart, including PulseChain (PLS) and PulseX (PLSX), raising concerns about the immediate market impact of the legal developments surrounding their founder.
Why Is HEX Price Going Down?
HEX’s sharp decline coincided with reports of Richard Heart’s detention, which renewed concerns about his legal troubles and their potential consequences for the cryptocurrency projects associated with him.
Heart has remained the most recognizable figure behind HEX since its launch in 2019. He subsequently launched PulseChain, a blockchain network that went live in 2023, alongside PulseX, a decentralized exchange built for that ecosystem.
Turkish authorities reportedly detained Heart following an operation linked to an international request from Finnish authorities, who have been pursuing him over allegations of aggravated tax fraud.
News of the detention was followed by a broad decline in Heart-linked tokens, with the selling particularly pronounced in the PulseChain ecosystem.
The timing suggests the detention reports were a major catalyst for the market reaction. However, no verified trading data establishes how much of the decline was caused by individual large holders selling, liquidity withdrawals or forced liquidations.
HEX was already trading far below its historical highs before the latest crash. The Ethereum-based version of HEX had lost more than 99% of its value from its 2021 peak of approximately $0.44, leaving the project exposed to another major setback in investor confidence.
HEX Price Drops to $0.00087 Before Partial Recovery
The October 14 sell-off produced one of the sharpest intraday declines in HEX on PulseChain during the recent trading period.
The token had been trading near $0.0023 for much of the day before a series of steep declines pushed it below $0.0020, followed by $0.0015 and eventually $0.0010.
At approximately 15:00 UTC, the CoinGecko chart recorded HEX trading near $0.0009546, shortly before the price reached its reported 24-hour low of $0.0008737.
The cryptocurrency subsequently rebounded above $0.0012, although it remained down 45.5% over 24 hours at the time of the reported price reading.
CoinGecko listed the token’s 24-hour trading volume at approximately $6.92 million, with a fully diluted valuation of $66.12 million and a total supply of 53.068 billion HEX.
The displayed circulating supply was unavailable, making it difficult to determine a reliable circulating market capitalization from those figures alone.
Historical CoinGecko data showed HEX on PulseChain closing October 13 at approximately $0.002316, following several sessions of trading near $0.0023 to $0.0025. The subsequent breakdown took prices well below that earlier range.
Richard Heart’s Reported Detention Revives Finnish Legal Case
The price crash follows a major development in the long-running legal proceedings involving Heart. Turkish media reported that Heart was detained on October 14 during an operation associated with an Interpol Red Notice requested by Finland.
Finnish authorities have sought Heart since 2024 over alleged aggravated tax fraud. An Interpol Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition or similar legal proceedings, rather than an international arrest warrant.
Turkish reports also claimed that authorities seized substantial cash holdings, luxury watches and electronic devices during the operation. However, published accounts differ on the quantities involved.
At the time of reporting, neither Turkish nor Finnish authorities had publicly confirmed the detention through an official statement reviewed by international media, and there was no confirmation that Heart had been extradited.
The Finnish proceedings are separate from the lawsuit previously filed against Heart by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In July 2023, the SEC accused Heart of conducting unregistered cryptocurrency offerings involving HEX, PulseChain and PulseX, alleging that the projects raised more than $1 billion. The regulator also alleged that at least $12 million of investor funds had been diverted toward luxury purchases.
However, a U.S. federal judge dismissed the SEC’s lawsuit in February 2025, and the regulator declined to file an amended complaint in April of that year. The dismissed U.S. civil case should not be confused with the Finnish criminal allegations.
PulseChain and PulseX Tokens Also Crash
The sell-off was not limited to HEX and other tokens associated with Heart recorded substantial losses following the Istanbul reports, indicating that the market reaction extended across the broader PulseChain ecosystem.
Market figures reported on October 14 showed PulseChain’s native PLS token falling approximately 44%, while PulseX (PLSX) declined around 48%.
Ethereum-based HEX experienced a comparatively smaller decline of approximately 24%, while HEX issued on PulseChain suffered losses exceeding 50% at certain points during the day.
The difference is significant because Ethereum HEX and PulseChain HEX are separately traded assets, despite sharing the HEX name and their association with Heart.
PulseChain was introduced as an alternative blockchain network with its own native token, while PulseX serves as a decentralized exchange within the ecosystem.
Their simultaneous declines indicate that selling was not confined to one HEX trading pair. However, the magnitude of price movements alone does not establish whether holders withdrew liquidity from decentralized exchanges or transferred substantial token balances to sell.
Can HEX Price Recover After the Crash?
HEX’s rebound from its intraday low has recovered part of the initial decline, but the cryptocurrency remains substantially below its October 14 opening trading range.
The area around $0.0010 is now an important level to watch because the token briefly traded below it before recovering. Another decline through that region would bring the reported low near $0.00087 back into focus.
On the upside, $0.0015 represents an earlier trading area lost during the sharp decline, while $0.0020 to $0.0023 marks the range where HEX traded before the sell-off accelerated.
A recovery toward those levels would require substantial buying interest following the abrupt loss of market value.
Further developments concerning Heart’s custody status, any potential extradition proceedings and the response of participants in the PulseChain ecosystem could continue to influence trading.
For now, HEX remains under heavy selling pressure following the reported detention, with the partial price recovery insufficient to erase the losses recorded during the October 14 crash.
Also Read: Who Is Richard Heart? From HEX Crypto Millions to Istanbul Detention
