ProveX, a new protocol associated with HEX and PulseChain founder Richard Heart, has reportedly raised more than $410 million through a fundraising campaign called “Sacrifice.” The scale of the raise has drawn attention, but so have questions about where much of the capital came from.
Analyst says most of the raise may have come from Heart himself
According to Arkham analyst Emmett Gallic, roughly $400 million of the total—equal to about 120,000 ETH—may have originated from Heart himself rather than outside contributors. Gallic alleges that the ETH was tied to PulseChain-related addresses before being routed through Tornado Cash.
He further claims the funds were then dispersed across more than 950 addresses before ultimately entering the ProveX Sacrifice event. If accurate, that would suggest a significant share of the fundraising total may not reflect independent market demand, but rather internally sourced capital moving back into the new protocol.
On-chain routing raises transparency concerns
The allegations center on a transaction pattern that began with wallets linked to PulseChain, continued through Tornado Cash, and ended with funds arriving in the ProveX fundraising pool after being split into hundreds of addresses. In crypto markets, the use of privacy tools in large fundraising-related flows often raises concerns about capital origin, disclosure standards, and the credibility of headline fundraising numbers.
For investors and observers, the key issue is not only the size of the raise, but whether the reported amount represents broad participant interest or recycled project-linked funds. That distinction can materially affect how the market evaluates traction and risk.
ETH decline reportedly led to major paper losses
Gallic also said the 120,000 ETH in question has suffered an estimated paper loss of around $280 million since it was first deposited into Tornado Cash, due to the decline in ETH prices. The figure refers to unrealized losses based on current valuation rather than confirmed realized losses.
As of the source material provided, no response from Richard Heart or the ProveX team was included. The dispute over the origin of ProveX’s fundraising capital is likely to remain a focal point as on-chain scrutiny continues.