Uniswap delists HEX token from interface after SEC alleges it's an unregistered security
Quick Take
- Uniswap has removed the HEX token from its interface.
- The move comes two days after the SEC alleged in a lawsuit that HEX is unregistered security and also mentioned Uniswap in the case.
Uniswap, the world's largest decentralized exchange protocol, delisted the HEX token from its interface after it was called an unregistered security by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this week.
The HEX token shows in the "unsupported" tokens list on Uniswap's interface with a general note that the protocol blocks tokens "that violate trademarks, that have proven to be scams, or otherwise based on legal considerations."
While Uniswap removes tokens from its interface, it doesn't mean they can't be traded via the decentralized protocol since delisting only occurs at the front-end level. All wallets on alternative hosted websites, such as this one for Uniswap, can still trade delisted tokens, or they can interact directly with the protocol's smart contract to do so.
HEX deemed as unregistered security by the SEC
Earlier this week, the SEC declared HEX as an unregistered security in its lawsuit against Richard Schueler, known online as Richard Heart, and his projects Hex (HEX), PulseChain (PLS) and PulseX (PLSX), alleging he raised over $1 billion across three different unregistered securities offerings beginning in 2019. Heart also defrauded investors by using their funds for personal expenses, the SEC alleged in a lawsuit on Monday. The PLS and PLSX tokens are still active but aren't available on Uniswap.
The SEC also mentioned Uniswap in the lawsuit when it described why it chose the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York as its venue for the case. The SEC said it selected that venue because many of the transactions described in the lawsuit took place on Uniswap, which has developers located in Brooklyn. "Venue is proper in this District because many of the crypto asset transactions described herein took place on Uniswap, a so-called decentralized crypto asset trading platform whose developers are headquartered in Brooklyn. Heart specifically designed PulseX as a fork of Uniswap," the SEC said in the complaint. "Additionally, at least one investor of PulseChain and PulseX resides in this District."
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