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What is HEX?

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  • Author: Syafiqa
  • Reading time: 8 minutes

HEX token was designed to work as a digital “time deposit”. Time deposit works similarly as a common banking product of certificates of deposit (CD) where one would deposit their money and get rewarded with interest. It is scheduled to launch with the name of BitcoinHex, but later it changes to hex.win and finally reached its current name, HEX.

Key Points

  • HEX is the first Blockchain CD (certificates of deposit).

  • HEX’s inflation is capped at 3.69%.

  • HEX uses a hybrid consensus algorithm of PoW (Proof-of-Work) and PoS (Proof-of-Stake).

HEX is an ERC-20 token which means that was created onto Ethereum’s blockchain network. Being an ERC-20 mandate HEX to follow the regulatory standard for all tokens in the Ethereum blockchain as well as enjoy the benefits of being part of the Ethereum ecosystem such as wallet compatibility.

Initially, Bitcoin holders could become early adopters of HEX due to the marketing method of claiming a small quantity free or earning it through a crypto airdrop. Currently, the most common way for users to acquire HEX is through exchanges like UniSwap or MetaMask. Using exchanges is helpful as it automated the conversion between different cryptocurrencies.

How does HEX work?

Just like any other ERC-20 tokens, HEX uses the mechanism on the Ethereum blockchain network to interact between one smart contract and another. Smart contracts contain consensus code and a staking mechanism that allows them to send and receive HEX.

HEX uses a hybrid consensus algorithm of PoW and PoS

Similarly to Bitcoin, the HEX uses the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm and combines it with the functions of the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. The hybrid nature requires investors to stake a portion of their funds to aid the verification of transactions.

Adopting the nature of a “time deposit”, HEX will later pay interest to stakers who stake their coins. It allows stakers to earn passive income without needing mining equipment.

The amount of staking amount correlates with the number of rewards they can obtain. In short, the larger the funds you stake, the more it can aid in verifying, and this will lead to a larger reward.

Richard Heart, The Main Man behind HEX Project.

HEX is designed in December 2019 by Richard Heart, an American serial entrepreneur, Youtuber, and philanthropist.

He developed HEX with the vision of developing a more decentralized, transparent, and environmentally friendly form of Bitcoin.

Differences between HEX coin with Bitcoin.

There are many similarities as well as differences between HEX and Bitcoin. Both are peer-to-peer networks that store and transmit value. HEX adopts the concept of Proof of Work but with a few changes.

To mine Bitcoin, a miner need to purchase mining hardware and use high electricity to start the mining process.

On the other hand, HEX miners can start by purchasing HEX from other HEX holders and start mining by staking.

What can I do with the HEX coin?

Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, HEX has no obvious use case apart from its main features to store value and application of monetization of the proof-of-wait concept - which is staking for mining purposes.

Being an ERC-20 token standard, HEX is able to act as a medium of exchange.

The basic functionality of the ERC-20 token is transferring tokens from one to another and approving whether a number of tokens from an account can be spent by a third-party account.

The main attraction of HEX is to receive rewards on them. HEX Stakers mint their own HEX and reward themselves when they end their stake.

How do I stake HEX?

  1. You can choose to stake between 1 and 5,555 days (over 15 years). However, it is not allowed to sell off its stake before the pre-set length of time.

  2. Once the agreed time is reached, you will receive their funds along with rewards. The reward will be paid in HEX. The higher the HEX’s price at the time of maturity, the more monetary valuation HEX will become.

Stakers will be rewarded regardless of the price movement. Currently, the reward paid by APY is 38% and includes a yearly 3.69% inflation. Stakers can enjoy yield payments ranging from 3.69% (if 99% of the total supply is locked) up to a massive payout of 369% if only 1% of the total amount is staked.

HEX stakers run the code for minting their rewards themselves. Just like Bitcoin miners, users minted every HEX into existence. This means that after the first AirDrop, every HEX holder will continue staking to mine new HEX into the circulation of the coin.

In the HEX mechanism, one longer stake is better than having multiple short stakes. For example, staking into one of five years duration will be entitled to more bonus shares compare to having one year of staking for five times.

How can I buy HEX?

In the early stage, free HEX tokens were airdropped to Bitcoin holders who held Bitcoin in their private wallets during the snapshot on December 2, 2019. Later, participants were able to claim 10,000 HEX for each 1 Bitcoin.

Currently, you can purchase HEX from several crypto exchanges or use MetaMask via Wyre or CoinSwitch, a cryptocurrency wallet that functions like a browser extension.

With these wallets, you can swap ETH for HEX. Do ensure there is some balance of ETH in the wallet to cover the gas fees. HEX is an ERC-20 which means that almost all cryptocurrency wallets support storing it.

What makes HEX’s price go up or down?

HEX claimed to be designed with features that stimulate price appreciation and halt practices that might hurt the coin’s price. Henceforward, the HEX mechanism will penalize participants who wish to terminate their contract ahead of time.

It claimed to avoid a sudden major sell-off upon AirDrop. Depending on how far the stake is from its maturity period and how much the interest was accrued, the penalty for early termination can cost up to 100% of the stake.

Their penalty is very harsh.

HEX’s price is uncorrelated with other cryptocurrencies, as HEX’s liquidity is against USD.

However, it relies heavily on the demand-supply mechanism. Which, when there is less HEX in circulation, the price will increase and vice versa.

According to Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, “More interest is paid if more coins are staked and as more Hex are locked away, they become more scarce driving up the price”.

Do you know? HEX’s project has no roadmap, as HEX was launched as a completed product.

Timeline of HEX.

  • December 2, 2019 - HEX was launched by Richard Heart.

  • November 19, 2020 - The final day of the launch phase that is known as BigPayDay, where all the unclaimed HEX were distributed among the stakers.

  • September 19, 2021- HEX hit its all-time maximum price of $0.510830.

Important!

There are numerous claims and speculation on the legibility of HEX if it is a scam. There are several red flags of HEX highlighted around the internet. The major red flag is HEX works like a crypto pyramid scheme as it promises that a ‘reward’ is being paid, but the HEX token doesn’t generate revenue, so the only place that it can generate returns is from other investors. HEX promises very high returns, but they are in the HEX’s currency. Thus, once HEX experienced a major dump or suddenly lost its value. The returns will be worthless.

Final Thoughts on Hex

HEX is an ERC-20 token that uses both Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS). The project promises a reward for every fund staked. With capped inflation rate and a high-interest return rate of 38% APY, it is might seem too good to be true. So, always do your thorough research before investing.

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