Currently the HEX staking contract allows you to earn a higher reward for the longer you stake. Based on the current parameters you can earn around 40% APY.

For more information and to estimate your staking returns, check out the HEX Asset profile and advanced staking calculator.

There is risk associated with locking up your HEX in the Staking contract. If you withdraw before the term length you will be hit with an early withdrawal penalty. This early withdrawal penalty is broken into proportions given to HEX stakers and an Origin Address. This (OA) Origin Address is the subject of much scrutiny as it could be controlled by the founder and team to ultimately capture market share of circulating HEX without disclosure.

Also the price of HEX could fluctuate while your HEX is locked so you could face a decision of wanting to take an early withdrawal penalty to either take profit or protect against loss.

HEX describes itself as a Certificate of Deposit on the blockchain.

HEX is an ERC20 token launched on the Ethereum network. HEX is designed to be a store of value to replace the Certificate of Deposit as the blockchain counterpart of that financial product used in traditional financial markets. HEX is also designed to leverage off the emerging DeFi (Decentralised Finance) ecosystem in cryptocurrencies within the Ethereum network.

HEX uses the Ethereum network for the transaction layer (sending and receiving HEX tokens, as well as interacting with the HEX smart contract), whilst the consensus code and staking mechanism is contained in the HEX smart contract.

HEX allows a user to stake his or her HEX coins for a share of the new HEX coin issuance, or inflation and contains features designed to incentivize behaviors that encourage price appreciation and disincentivize behaviors that encourage harm to the price. The HEX smart contract penalizes stakers for ending their stake early and rewards them for staking larger amounts of HEX for longer periods.

HEX is distributed to Bitcoin holders by way of a snapshot of the Bitcoin UTXO set that occurred on 2 December 2019 at block height 606227. The distribution of HEX to Bitcoin holders is 10,000 HEX per 1 BTC. Bitcoin holders are able to claim HEX only during the first year of launch. During this period, HEX is also obtained in exchange for ETH through interacting with the HEX smart contract.

At the end of the first year of launch, all HEX coins that were not claimed by Bitcoin holders are distributed to the rest of the HEX users who have stakes that are active. The maximum possible annual inflation of HEX is designed to be 3.69% after the first year of launch.

HEX had an event called Big Pay Day. To get a portion of HEX distributed to the BPD, you needed to stake (lock up) your hex for at least until the day of the BPD, max stake for HEX is 15 years. Longer you stake, the higher your share of the BPD. There is some controversy around the percentage of HEX that qualified for BPD as there was a date close to BPD when HEX staked went from 18% HEX staked to 98% HEX staked. Some pundits argue this may have been Richard Heart’s HEX holdings which ultimately caused dilution of the rewards earned from BPD.

Designed and launched by Richard Heart on 2 December 2019, HEX describes itself as a Certificate of Deposit on the blockchain.

Richard Heart is a polarizing figure in the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency communities where a past reputation has revealed:

• Richard Heart was sued for spamming in 2002 under WA state law.
  • Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/peacefire-org-beats-spammers-in-court/
• The “Origin Address” currently receives between 45-50% of the HEX early withdrawal penalty funds.
• Richard will not admit to knowing who is behind the Origin Address.

Knowing these points makes it unclear how much HEX Richard and the “Team” actually hold – although it is common for teams to hold a portion of their own cryptocurrency, this is usually made more transparent.