Uniswap Blocks Richard Heart's HEX Token Following SEC Allegations
The largest decentralized exchange (DEX) in the market, Uniswap, has blocked HEX (HEX) from its interface following allegations by the SEC that the project and its founder, Richard Schueler, unlawfully offered securities.
Uniswap Blocks HEX Token
Uniswap has designated HEX as an “unsupported” token and attached a warning logo indicating the token “violates trademark/is proven to be fraudulent/violates legal terms.”
While Uniswap has removed the controversial project from its platform, the removal only affects the DEX interface. This means users can still interact with HEX’s smart contract, as Uniswap and DEXs, in general, do not have the authority to prevent projects or users from deploying and interacting with any token they choose.
Earlier, at the end of May, the DEX had also blocked several memecoins and derivative tokens due to concerns about the legal risks these tokens might pose.
SEC’s Lawsuit Against Richard Heart
As reported by Coin68, on the evening of July 31, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Richard Schueler (aka Richard Heart), the controversial figure behind Pulsechain, PulseX, and HEX.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Heart raised over $1 billion through three ICOs (initial coin offerings) for his projects starting in 2019 without registering with the agency. Additionally, Heart is accused of misappropriating at least $12 million of customer funds for personal use rather than developing the protocols.
The SEC also mentioned Uniswap in its complaint, explaining why the Eastern District Court of New York, specifically Brooklyn, was chosen as the venue for the trial:
"This is where numerous cryptocurrency transactions described took place on Uniswap, a so-called decentralized cryptocurrency trading platform with developers based in Brooklyn. Heart designed PulseX as a fork of Uniswap.
Additionally, at least one investor in PulseChain and PulseX resides in this District."
Impact on HEX
Currently, HEX is priced at $0.0048, having dropped 14% in value over the past 24 hours.
The chart shows the 1-day price trend of HEX on CoinMarketCap.
