Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek confirmed on October 17 that Richard James Schueler — the founder of HEX, PulseChain and PulseX widely known as Richard Heart — was detained in Istanbul on October 14. The arrest closes a years-long international pursuit of one of crypto’s most controversial founders, and it raises the question now hanging over the tokens he built: what actually happens to HEX and PulseChain with their creator in custody?
Gürlek announced the operation in a statement on X, describing Heart as a U.S. citizen reported to have an Interpol red notice issued against him on allegations of perpetrating a $1 billion cryptocurrency fraud in the United States and Finland. Heart was taken into custody along with his wife.
What Turkish Authorities Say They Found
The operation was coordinated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office with the city police’s intelligence and financial crimes units, supported by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Searches across 15 addresses in Beşiktaş, Üsküdar and Sarıyer recovered $7.15 million in U.S. currency and 160,000 Turkish lira, six cold wallets, and a list of goods Gürlek enumerated in full: 300 bags, 100 pairs of shoes, 136 pairs of glasses, 28 watches, 97 pieces of jewelry, 29 phones, 12 laptops, 11 computer towers, 19 solid-state drives and external disks, 46 USB drives, and 19 graphics cards.
Police also seized four long-barreled rifles, three unlicensed pistols and 1,400 rounds of ammunition. Three men identified as Heart’s bodyguards were detained in a follow-up, and state news agency Anadolu reported that nine vehicles registered to Heart’s wife were impounded. Judicial proceedings and examination of the seized material are ongoing.
From an SEC Lawsuit to an Interpol Red Notice
The arrest is the latest turn in a legal record that stretches back years. In July 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Heart and his three entities, alleging they raised more than $1 billion through unregistered crypto asset securities offerings and that he misappropriated at least $12 million for personal luxury purchases. That case remains unresolved. A separate Interpol red notice was issued at Finland’s request in December 2024 over suspected aggravated tax fraud tied to his crypto activities, the basis Turkey cited in confirming the detention.
HEX, the certificate-of-deposit-style token Heart launched in 2019, is the common thread across both cases. A BlockchainReporter breakdown of HEX tracks how the token’s own positioning eventually gave way to a slide toward all-time lows.
What the Arrest Means for HEX and PulseChain
Heart’s detention does not stop the networks he built. PulseChain is a running layer-1 blockchain and PulseX a live decentralized exchange, both maintained by community participants rather than a single company. But the arrest removes the figure whose personal brand anchored the ecosystem, and the seized cold wallets are now a focal point: authorities have not said what they hold or whether the assets relate to the alleged fraud.
The situation echoes other cases where a founder’s legal exposure left a live network in limbo. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition was authorized by a court after a similarly drawn-out international pursuit, a reminder of how slowly such proceedings can move.
What Happens Next
Turkish officials have not announced an extradition decision, and it is not yet clear whether Heart would be sent to Finland, the United States, or face proceedings in Turkey first. The allegations against him remain unproven. For now the immediate question is procedural — where the case is heard next — while the longer-term question is whether HEX and PulseChain can keep functioning without the founder whose name is attached to both.