HEX on PulseChain
HEX is a time-lock staking smart contract that exists on both Ethereum and PulseChain. This page covers how HEX works, what distinguishes the PulseChain instance from the Ethereum original, what the staking mechanics mean in practice, and what risks apply before interacting with it.
On this page: What HEX Is · PulseChain HEX vs Ethereum HEX · How Staking Works · Penalties and Risk · Hedron · Getting Live Data · FAQ
What HEX Is
HEX was released on Ethereum in December 2019 by Richard Heart. It is a time-lock staking contract: users commit HEX for 1 to 5,555 days and receive non-transferable stake shares based on the amount, duration and share rate. When a stake is ended, the contract calculates the return in HEX under its payout and penalty rules. This is a token mechanism, not a bank deposit or a promised dollar return.
HEX on PulseChain is the inherited PulseChain instance of the Ethereum HEX contract. Its code and stored state were present in the execution history shared by the networks before divergence. The instances operate independently after the fork. Transaction costs for stake operations depend on the fee conditions of the network being used.
Audits. HEX's website says there were two security reviews and one economics review. The CoinFabrik security report and CoinFabrik economics report are public. HEX also attributes a security review to ChainSecurity, but this pass did not locate its report for independent inspection. An audit covers a defined code version and scope; it does not guarantee the contract or a transaction is safe.
Contract control. The verified HEX contract on PulseChain exposes staking and token functions without a conventional owner pause or proxy upgrade path. Users still depend on their keys, the network, the interface they choose and the contract's fixed rules. No administrator can reverse an early end or change a stake's original terms through a normal contract function.
Inflation. The contract's daily payout formula corresponds to approximately 3.69% annualised supply inflation under its design. Active stakes receive a share of the daily payout pool according to their share count; this figure is not an individual yield or price guarantee. Half of assessed early or late stake penalties goes to that pool and half to the contract's fixed Origin Address.
PulseChain HEX vs Ethereum HEX
PulseChain inherited the HEX contract and its stored balances and stake records through Ethereum execution block 17,232,999. PulseChain’s own execution branch begins at block 17,233,000. HEX was not redeployed into a new genesis from a snapshot.
Technical sources: Official node guide and the HEX contract on PulseChain.
The contract address is the same on both chains: 0x2b591e99afE9f32eAA6214f7B7629768c40Eeb39
HEX stake records present in the last shared execution state were inherited by the PulseChain branch. After divergence, each instance processes its own transactions and contract accounting. Starting or ending a stake on one network does not start or end it on the other. An inherited stake must therefore be checked and managed separately on each chain.
pHEX and eHEX. These community labels distinguish HEX on PulseChain from HEX on Ethereum. The inherited contracts share an address and code lineage but have independent state after the fork. Bridging Ethereum HEX creates a separate representation of Ethereum HEX on PulseChain; it does not turn it into the inherited PulseChain HEX token or transfer a stake record.
Transaction costs. Starting and ending a stake each require a transaction on the relevant chain. The amount paid depends on current gas prices, transaction complexity and any work needed to update daily contract accounting. Compare a live fee quote on the chain you intend to use; this page does not treat a past low fee as a permanent property.
How Staking Works
Stake shares. Starting a stake burns the committed HEX and records non-transferable stake shares in the contract. A T-Share is one trillion such shares. The daily payout allocation depends on the stake's shares relative to all active shares, not its HEX amount divided by total HEX supply. The number of HEX ultimately returned also depends on the days served, the daily pools and any penalties.
Share rate. The contract's share rate sets how many shares a new stake receives for a given adjusted HEX amount. It can rise after a profitable stake ends and is designed not to fall. An earlier stake may therefore secure more shares for the same amount and duration if the rate subsequently rises; it is not true that every later stake necessarily pays a higher rate.
Longer Pays Better. The duration bonus adds about 20% for each 364-day contract year and caps at a 200% bonus after about 10 years. The contract permits up to 5,555 days, but days beyond the bonus cap do not keep increasing that starting bonus. A longer lock also increases the time during which the committed HEX is inaccessible.
Bigger Pays Better. The size bonus rises with the amount committed and is capped at 10% for stakes of 150 million HEX or more.
Daily accounting. Contract days follow UTC. Daily payout data determines the claimable amount for served days; no HEX interest is automatically sent to the wallet each day. The contract calculates and mints the amount due when the stake is ended, subject to its rules.
Origin Address. The contract allocates half of assessed stake penalties to a fixed Origin Address and half to the staker payout pool. It also encoded bonus flows during HEX's historical launch and claim phase. This is a concentration of protocol-directed distributions even though the address cannot change the staking rules through an owner function. The address's owner or present use is a separate question.
Penalties and Risk
HEX stakes are time commitments. A staker can end one early, but the contract assesses a penalty that can consume accrued rewards and principal.
Early end penalty. The contract calculates a penalty using payouts for at least 90 days or roughly half the committed term, whichever is longer. When there are too few served days, it estimates unserved payouts. This may take all accrued rewards and part or all of the principal. Half the assessed penalty goes to the daily payout pool and half to the Origin Address. Check the contract calculation for the particular stake before signing an early end.
Late end and Good Accounting. The contract gives a 14-day grace period after maturity. Thereafter, a late penalty accrues at approximately 1% per week against the amount due, including principal, and can eventually consume it. The permissionless stakeGoodAccounting function can finalise a matured stake's accounting and stop further late penalties without sending the payout to the staker. The owner still needs to end the stake separately to receive HEX.
Share rate and market risk. A higher share rate can mean fewer shares for the same adjusted HEX amount. More shares do not guarantee a dollar return: the HEX market price and liquidity can move independently of contract payouts.
Fixed rules. A stake started with the wrong duration or ended too soon cannot be undone by a support desk. Confirm the selected chain, amount, duration and transaction before signing; a wallet or front end cannot override the deployed contract's penalty calculation.
Contract and transaction risk. The published CoinFabrik reports assess defined versions and scope. They do not rule out undiscovered flaws, user errors, front-end compromise, gas costs or network failures. The deployed HEX contract has no ordinary admin upgrade function to patch its own code.
Hedron: A Separate Layer
Hedron's own documentation describes contracts on Ethereum and PulseChain that interact with HEX stakes. Hedron is a separate project from HEX and Richard Heart. Its extra contracts and functions need their own assessment; the HEX audit reports do not audit Hedron.
A native HEX stake made directly through HEX can be used to mint HDRN for days served under Hedron's rules. Hedron says this minting does not give its contracts control over that stake. An instanced HEX stake (HSI) is created inside a separate stake-instance contract. It can be tokenised as an HSI NFT, transferred, and later detokenised by its holder to control the wrapped stake. An existing native HEX stake cannot simply be converted into an HSI.
Hedron separately lets an eligible HSI holder borrow HDRN in advance against the stake. Borrowing creates repayment obligations; default can lead to an auction in which another party takes control of the collateral stake. This differs from minting HDRN against served days. Trading an HSI transfers exposure to its remaining HEX term and penalties, and the buyer should check any advance and the wrapper's permissions.
The presence or absence of a Hedron audit for the exact PulseChain deployments was not established in this pass. Do not infer that HEX's reviews cover those contracts. Verify the current Hedron contract addresses, source code, any published audit, and the exact HSI and advance status before interacting.
Getting Live Data
Stake terms and contract state can be checked through the HEX interface and the PulseChain explorer's HEX contract. Make sure the wallet and explorer are on the intended chain. Data presented by a third-party dashboard should be reconciled with the correct on-chain contract, especially before ending a stake.
FAQ
What is the difference between pHEX and eHEX? pHEX is HEX on PulseChain; eHEX is HEX on Ethereum. PulseChain inherited the HEX contract and its pre-fork state through the Ethereum hard fork. The two instances share the original contract address, but subsequent stakes, balances and contract accounting are independent.
Can I move my HEX stakes between Ethereum and PulseChain? No. Staked positions are locked in the HEX contract on the chain where they were staked. A stake on Ethereum cannot be transferred to PulseChain and vice versa. You can bridge the HEX token itself as an asset, but this creates a separate bridged representation and does not move your stake.
Is HEX audited? Two CoinFabrik reports, one security and one economics, are linked above. HEX's site also says ChainSecurity performed a security review, but its report was not independently inspected in this pass. None of these reports is a guarantee against future losses or an audit of Hedron.
What happens if I end a stake early? The contract assesses an early penalty based on at least 90 days or roughly half the committed term, whichever is longer. It can consume payouts and principal. Half of the assessed amount goes to the staker payout pool and half to the Origin Address.
What is Hedron? It is a separate protocol for minting HDRN against eligible stake days, creating tradable HSI stake wrappers and borrowing HDRN against eligible HSIs. Minting and borrowing have different conditions and risks; default on an advance can lead to liquidation of an HSI.
Where can I check my HEX stakes? Use the HEX interface on the intended network and compare the stake and transaction details with the relevant chain explorer. The PulseChain HEX contract is 0x2b591e99afE9f32eAA6214f7B7629768c40Eeb39.
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