HEX (PulseChain) narxiHEX

Dragonchain’s DRGN rallied over 97% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it plans to dismiss its long-running lawsuit against the project over alleged unregistered securities sales. According to a joint filing on April 24, the SEC and Dragonchain have agreed the case should be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. The SEC cited the work of its newly established Crypto Task Force and said dropping the suit was the appropriate step. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2022 , accused Dragonchain, its foundation, and founder Joseph Roets of raising $16.5 million through an unregistered token sale. The commission’s case centred on a 2017 presale and ICO that raised $14 million through DRGN tokens, with an additional $2.5 million sold between 2019 and 2022 to fund business operations and tech development. At the time, the regulator argued DRGN qualified as an investment contract and should have been registered under securities laws. The case, however, was paused in October 2024 after Dragonchain submitted a settlement offer and was later extended in January, following a major executive order from President Trump that called for the U.S. to take a leading role in digital assets. The order prompted a broader reassessment of how cryptocurrency is regulated in the U.S., and the SEC cited this shift in approach when deciding to withdraw from the Dragonchain lawsuit. In fact, the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force, established the day after Trump returned to office, met with Dragonchain representatives on March 24. According to an internal agency memo , the discussion centred on how the SEC should approach crypto regulation, with a focus on blockchain’s non-financial applications. Dragonchain’s team, led by founder Joe Roets, argued that blockchain should be seen as foundational software, used for transparency, identity management, and automation, rather than purely as a financial instrument. For Dragonchain, the turnaround marked a sharp reversal for DRGN, which has been in a downtrend since 2021. As of press time, DRGN is still down heavily from its 2018 peak, but the token formed two God candles after the news broke, shooting up nearly 100% in the past 24 hours. Since the start of the year, the SEC has been steadily walking back from some of its biggest crypto battles. It pulled out of long-running lawsuits against Coinbase , Ripple , and Gemini , cases that once defined the agency’s hardline stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler. As previously reported by crypto.news, it recently dropped its fraud case against HEX founder Richard Heart, after a federal judge tossed the complaint and the SEC chose not to amend it.

HEX founder Richard Heart declares 'SEC lost and crypto won' as regulator drops fraud suit

⚡️ LATEST: The SEC confirms it won't refile the fraud case against Hex founder Richard Heart. Heart says, “Richard Heart, PulseChain, PulseX, and HEX have defeated the SEC completely and have achieved regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has formally ended its legal battle with Hex founder Richard Schueler, widely known as Richard Heart. In a letter to New York District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon, which Heart shared on X, the SEC stated that it “does not intend to file an amended complaint,” thereby allowing the earlier court dismissal to stand. As previously covered on crypto.news, the SEC had sued Heart in July 2023, accusing him of raising over $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings tied to his crypto projects, Hex (HEX), PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PSLX). Heart was also accused of using investor funds for personal luxury purchases, including high-end watches and cars, while he promoted his project tokens as paths to “grandiose wealth.” The case took a turn in February when district court Judge Amon tossed the complaint , saying the SEC could not prove that Heart’s actions specifically targeted U.S. investors. While the regulator was given time to amend and refile, it has now chosen to walk away from the case altogether. The commission’s decision comes as no surprise, as the SEC, under the new Trump administration, has dropped several high-profile cases against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Kraken , and Consensys. Since former chair Gary Gensler’s departure in January, the agency has steadily scaled back its litigation efforts targeting the crypto sector. Heart celebrated the dismissal, claiming that HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX had “defeated the SEC completely” and gained a level of “regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.” “This is a victory for open-source software, cryptocurrency, and free speech,” he said, adding that the case “would have set a terrible precedent and caused perhaps multiple billions of dollars of damage to the vital open source and free software industry that powers most of the Internet.” But while Heart may be off the SEC’s radar, he’s still on Interpol’s. He was added to the agency’s Red Notice list in December 2024, with Finnish authorities seeking his arrest over tax evasion charges spanning nearly four years, and an assault allegation involving a 16-year-old. As of press time, the Red Notice remains active , and Heart’s name still appears on Europe’s most wanted list.

SEC Walks Away From Case Against HEX Founder Richard Heart, Attorney Says