Richard Heart Detained in Turkey, HEX Market Cap Drops $246M

This roundup covers Richard Heart's detention, quantum computing advances and Bitwise's assessment of crypto markets. HEX's market capitalization fell by $246 million, from $561 million to $315 million, this week after authorities detained founder Richard Schueler in Istanbul on October 14. Schueler is better known as Richard Heart. Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said police seized $7.15 million in cash, firearms and ammunition during an early morning raid in Istanbul's Besiktas district. Gurlek said police also searched 15 related addresses.

Anadolu reported that police impounded nine luxury vehicles registered to Schueler's wife. The seized items reportedly included 28 watches, 300 bags and 19 graphics cards. Interpol issued a Red Notice for Schueler two years ago over allegations of tax fraud and assault after authorities in Finland sought Schueler's arrest. A spokesperson for Finland's National Bureau of Investigations declined to comment.

Turkish media refer to Schueler as "Whale James" and have linked Schueler to a $1 billion unregistered securities offering in the US. However, a US judge dismissed that case in February 2025. Images circulating in Turkish media appear to show Heart without trousers, with Heart's lower body blurred. HEX critic Eric Wall said Wall initially thought the image was AI-generated but now believes the image is real. HEX supporters claim authorities have yet to confirm whether Schueler was formally arrested or charged.

Google demonstrated a process called "magic state cultivation" on Google's Willow quantum processor that reduces errors 40-fold. The technique achieved a record 99.99% accuracy rate for a specialized quantum state required for advanced calculations. Theta Labs posted three new quantum circuits that could reduce the qubits required to break elliptic curve cryptography by 28% from Google's current estimate of 1,175 logical qubits.

Starknet opened a vote to transform from an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain into a post-quantum layer-1 blockchain amid fears that AI could break elliptic curve cryptography before quantum computers can. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said Ethereum's post-quantum roadmap may be too slow to meet the challenge from AI. Ben-Sasson said Starknet therefore needed to consider becoming a fully post-quantum layer-1 blockchain. Ben-Sasson said protecting crypto against quantum computing is urgent and requires rapid action. More than 99% of votes cast to date favor the move. Starknet's token lost almost 50% in value this week after a large increase last week.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said Q3 may have been one of the best quarters in crypto's history. Hougan argued that a sharp rebound in crypto prices and growing onchain markets point to the start of a crypto recovery. Bitwise's quarterly market review, published Thursday, reported a 46.4% quarterly gain in Bitwise's large-cap crypto index. Bitwise reported $6 billion in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund inflows that brought year-to-date net flows back into positive territory.