Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

sec.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 128 posts

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#71

Post by SoftTalker »

delusional wrote: post #42
iancarroll wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article mentions at least 2 million Ethereum, which is certainly liquid enough to be a couple orders of magnitude above $10 million.

If we're both running our own ponzi scheme and you give me $1 worth IOUs to your ponzi scheme, before later readjusting your ponzi scheme to be worth 1000x what it was previously. I would on paper have $1000 of your money, since that's what my IOU in your ponzi scheme is now "worth". If my ponzi scheme then folds before yours, you could claim that I've defrauded you for $1000, but I'd argue I haven't defrauded you in…

Lots of stuff has value, until it doesn't. Tulips, beanie-babies, or pet rocks come to mind. Doesn't mean it's a scam necessarily, could just be a fad -- irrational, but with no fraudulent intent behind it.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#72

Post by aionaiodfgnio »

Analemma_ wrote: post #5

Apart from maybe Coinbase, I just take as a given that every single actor in crypto is a criminal, and so far this assumption has been pretty much bang-on accurate.

Maybe Coinbase won't just waltz off with their depositor's money, but their business model appears to be illegal from top to bottom. The SEC alleges that basically everything they are doing is illegal. Even if the SEC is wrong, Coinbase's practice of operating as broker, exchange, and clearing agent is a massive conflict of interest.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#73

Post by codyb »

conductr wrote: post #39
artursapek wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This guy was famous for posting these photos flaunting how much money he was wearing. It blows my mind to think someone could be this open about doing this

It blows my mind people invest money with a guy doing this so openly

I feel like it's fairly common for scammers to show off a fabulously wealthy lifestyle real or imagined.

For some people it makes them think "whose money did they spend to get all that?" and for others it makes them thing "if I give them my money to invest too soon I'll be on the plane"

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#74

Post by HappySweeney »

kelthuzad wrote: post #26
bebop404 wrote: post #17

It's a shame it took this long to go after such a blatant Ponzi. There is even an ad for this scheme painted on a wall near my home (in Mexico), so one would hope that the US will not be the only country where he will face charges.

It's crazy how many crypto natives were warning "hexicans" about hex and pointing out the most obvious indicator that it's a scam, namely Richard Heart defrauding them, yet most of his fanboys were not even willing to listen or evaluate the evidence with an open mind.

That would have had them admitting to themselves that their money is gone, including the promised gains they likely already spent.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#75

Post by wonderwonder »

The craziest part to me is that he was so incredibly open about it and people just kept giving him $. He just made video after video showing himself wearing outfits worth tens of thousands of dollars. Not a video about something else where he happened to be dressed up, but the video was literally about how much the items he was wearing cost. On top of that he looked absolutely ridiculous. I have never seen such a real life example of money not being able to buy class.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#76

Post by SamPatt »

Analemma_ wrote: post #5

Apart from maybe Coinbase, I just take as a given that every single actor in crypto is a criminal, and so far this assumption has been pretty much bang-on accurate.

I co-founded an a16z and USV funded crypto startup in 2015, and I knew lots of people in the industry.

There are certainly bad actors, probably more than other industries. But it's absolutely nothing like "every single actor."

Many were (and presumably still are) true believers in the technology, and got into it the field with good (though perhaps naive) intentions.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#77

Post by thesausageking »

The SEC is just the wrong organization to be enforcing laws in crypto. This was a scam that was done out in the open and launched 4 years ago. People conned into buying this have already lost their money and they're not getting it back. The founder will use some of the $1B+ he's made of it to defend himself in a long, drawn out court case that the SEC will eventually settle.

The SEC's purpose is supposed to be to protect investors and no one is being protected by this.

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#78

Post by Terr_ »

artursapek wrote: post #36
rlt wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Among other crimes against humanity is his incredibly gaudy sense of style https://twitter.com/RichardHeartWin/status/15402954048178831... https://sybershel.com/he-invented-the-crypto-that-gives-inte...

This guy was famous for posting these photos flaunting how much money he was wearing. It blows my mind to think someone could be this open about doing this

When it comes to both scams and investing, sometimes a kind of ancient "look at me I'm obviously wealthy and successful, so clearly you should treat me favorably and maybe link your fortune to mine" thing going on.

> It was quite a crash, Nakamura Lines. Respectable middle-aged businessmen took to leaving their hotel windows without their lift belts. Me, I kept spending. If I'd started living frugally, my creditors would have done some checking... and I'd have ended in debtor's prison.

-- Neutron Star by Larry Niven

Re: SEC Charges Hex Founder Richard Heart with Misappropriating Millions of Dollars

#79

Post by paulpauper »

thesausageking wrote: post #77

The SEC is just the wrong organization to be enforcing laws in crypto. This was a scam that was done out in the open and launched 4 years ago. People conned into buying this have already lost their money and they're not getting it back. The founder will use some of the $1B+ he's made of it to defend himself in a long, drawn out court case that the SEC will eventually settle. The SEC's purpose is supposed to be to pro…

the sec also does not bring criminal investigation, only refer. it's not even that effective as a deterrent. only jail stops criminals, not lawsuits.
Post reply on HN