IPFS: Decentralized Access to HEX

What Is IPFS?

IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a decentralized storage network. Instead of fetching a website from a single server owned by one company, IPFS retrieves files from a distributed network of nodes — files come from whichever nodes hold them, so no single server has to stay up; a gateway, the usual way a browser reaches IPFS, is still one operator’s server.

Think of it like BitTorrent for websites: the content is identified by a cryptographic hash (a unique fingerprint), and anyone running an IPFS node can serve that content. As long as at least one node has the file, it stays accessible.

Why HEX Uses IPFS

The HEX smart contract is immutable and lives on-chain — it cannot be changed or stopped. The app you use to reach the contract is a set of files that has to be served from somewhere, and go.hex.com, the official page that lists where to run the app, runs on traditional web infrastructure.

What happens if go.hex.com goes down? Or the hosting provider cuts it off? Or a government seizes the domain?

This is where IPFS comes in. The entire HEX frontend is deployed to IPFS. If go.hex.com goes offline, the full HEX app — starting and ending stakes, transferring HEX — still loads from IPFS, through a gateway that holds the files or through your own IPFS node. The app still reaches the chain through an RPC server (see Self-Sovereignty below).

The HEX IPFS Hash

The current IPFS hash for the HEX frontend:

bafybeigxypck6aqtgt2wrvt2kd4ixy3ipxr7lhaafvg3j3ucdu4w3vumbm

This hash is content-addressed: it is computed from the files themselves, so the files behind this hash can never change, and every new release gets a new hash. What checks the files against the hash is the IPFS software doing the fetching. Your own IPFS node (Option 3) checks every piece it receives. A path gateway (Options 1 and 2) runs that check on its own server, so a page opened through it is only as honest as the gateway’s operator; a service-worker gateway such as inbrowser.link runs the check in your browser, using code its operator supplies.

How to Access HEX via IPFS

Option 1: The Gateway go.hex.com Links

go.hex.com’s launch image (“Click image to launch HEX”) opens the app through Pinata, a company that runs an IPFS gateway at hex.mypinata.cloud. Like any website, that gateway depends on its operator, its domain and its certificate:

hex.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/bafybeigxypck6aqtgt2wrvt2kd4ixy3ipxr7lhaafvg3j3ucdu4w3vumbm

Click this link and you get the full HEX app (v2.1.2).

Option 2: Another Public IPFS Gateway

A public IPFS gateway that holds the files serves them at a URL like:

https://<gateway-domain>/ipfs/bafybeigxypck6aqtgt2wrvt2kd4ixy3ipxr7lhaafvg3j3ucdu4w3vumbm

On a path-style address like this one, every file that gateway serves shares one browser origin, so a wallet connection granted there also reaches other pages on the same gateway. IPFS’s docs reserve subdomain-style addresses (https://<hash>.ipfs.<gateway-domain>/) for web apps; none tested on 2026-09-23 served this hash that way.

A gateway that returns the files does not always run the app. On 2026-09-27 ipfs.filebase.io served this hash, but its own security policy (default-src 'self') blocks code the app runs at startup and the app’s connections to RPC servers, so the page stays blank.

Option 3: Run Your Own IPFS Node

For maximum sovereignty, install IPFS Desktop or Kubo (the IPFS CLI), then access the hash locally at:

http://localhost:8080/ipfs/bafybeigxypck6aqtgt2wrvt2kd4ixy3ipxr7lhaafvg3j3ucdu4w3vumbm

IPFS Desktop runs its own node while IPFS Desktop is open. Kubo serves the localhost link above only after ipfs init (run once) and ipfs daemon, and only while the daemon keeps running.

IPFS Desktop and Kubo were maintained by Shipyard, whose IPFS work ended on September 30, 2026 (Shipyard’s announcement). Their last releases are IPFS Desktop v0.50.1 and Kubo v0.43.1 (September 15, 2026); IPFS Desktop’s notes say older versions lack that release’s security fixes. No dedicated team ships bug or security fixes for these programs unless another maintainer takes them on.

When you run your own node, you don’t depend on any gateway at all.

Option 4: Desktop App

PulseChain also publishes hex-server, a small local web server that holds the HEX app’s files and opens them in your browser; the app then reads the chain through the same RPC servers as any other copy. Downloads are available for all major platforms:

On a Mac the download is a script, not a program: the file Run HEX Staking.scpt opens in Script Editor, where its Run button (▶) starts the Mac’s built-in web server and opens the app at http://localhost:3690. Pressing OK in the script’s closing dialog stops the server. The README inside MacOS.zip dates from 2023 and still describes installing Node.js and http-server; the v2.1.2 script uses the Mac’s built-in Apache server and installs nothing. The script copies the app from the dist folder beside it, so it runs from inside the unzipped folder.

On Windows and Linux the download holds one program, hex-server. Started, it serves the app at http://127.0.0.1:5555 and opens the default browser there; the app stays reachable at that URL while hex-server keeps running, and closing hex-server stops it.

The Instructions list the downloads and explain how to build the server from source.

Community Sites

go.hex.com also lists these community sites. Others run them, and not all of them are HEX frontends; each note says what the site is:

• Icosa — the Hedron team’s staking app, built on HEX Stake Instances (see Non-Official HEX Staking Frontends)
• AppHEX — community HEX frontend
• BackupHEX — backup HEX frontend
• HEX Crypto — community HEX frontend
• Etherscan — the HEX contract’s own explorer page on Ethereum (eHEX), for calling the contract directly; the same address on PulseChain Scan is HEX on PulseChain
• PulseChain Bridge — PulseChain’s official bridge between Ethereum and PulseChain
• Token Express — a bridge between Ethereum, BSC and PulseChain

Benefits of IPFS for HEX

1. Censorship Resistance

No single government, ISP or hosting provider can delete the HEX files from IPFS: any node that pins them can serve them. Gateways are ordinary websites that can be blocked or shut down; your own node fetches the files from peers directly.

2. No Single Point of Failure

A traditional website depends on DNS, SSL certificates, a hosting provider and a CDN. A gateway link still uses all four for the gateway itself. Your own IPFS node fetches the files from whichever peers hold them, with no gateway’s domain, certificate or CDN in the path.

3. Cryptographic Integrity

The hash names one exact set of files, and an IPFS node rejects any file that does not match it. A gateway is a server that could return other files under the right hash, so an address bar showing the hash go.hex.com publishes confirms which release was asked for, not what arrived. Your own IPFS node (Option 3) checks the files it receives. A service-worker gateway such as inbrowser.link also runs the check, in your browser, using code its operator supplies.

4. Self-Sovereignty

Running your own IPFS node removes the gateway: the app’s files come from peers, and your node checks them against the hash itself. An internet connection and at least one peer that pins the files are still needed, and the app still reads the chain through RPC and data servers, by default rpc.pulsechain.com and rpc-pulsechain.g4mm4.io (RPC) and graph.pulsechain.com (data) on PulseChain. The app’s Settings dialog (its Settings button) has an RPC Settings section that accepts a replacement endpoint, such as the RPC of a PulseChain node you run; on an https gateway it takes an http:// endpoint only for a node on the same computer (localhost). Its “Read stakes on-chain only” switch skips the data server and reads active stakes from the contract, without history, transfers or yield.

5. Availability Without a Domain

Even if go.hex.com expires, the hosting bill goes unpaid, or the domain is seized — the IPFS hash remains. The content is permanent as long as it’s pinned somewhere on the network.

Security Considerations

• go.hex.com lists the current hash under its IPFS heading, read from its release file go.hex.com/version.json (ipfs_address). Checked 2026-09-23, both read bafybeigxypck6aqtgt2wrvt2kd4ixy3ipxr7lhaafvg3j3ucdu4w3vumbm (v2.1.2); a newer release gets a new hash.
• Your own node removes the gateway from the path: it checks every file against the hash itself. The hash still comes from go.hex.com, and the app still reads the chain through an RPC.
• A saved bookmark to the gateway link, or a downloaded copy (Option 4), keeps the app one click away if go.hex.com is unreachable; an emergency search is where look-alike sites wait.
• Phishing sites mimic the HEX interface, including look-alike gateway domains that put the correct hash in the address. A wallet connected to such a page gets the same approval prompts a real one would.

How This Relates to Actuator.Finance

Actuator.Finance follows the same pattern. Its contracts are immutable with no admin keys, and actuator.finance/app publishes the Actuator app on IPFS (Web app CID bafybeibuhledgfzhh6c52chltjfku2awvt2njls3or7tbelsus6viry6g4) plus a downloadable local runner; both are on the Frontends page.

The pattern: the contract is permanent on-chain; the app survives as long as someone keeps its IPFS files pinned.

Source: go.hex.com — the official list of ways to run HEX code. Content current as of v2.1.2 (checked 2026-09-23).