How Actuator Works

The delegate, mint, and redeem lifecycle — explained plainly for new HEX users.

Actuator lets you get liquidity today from your long-term HEX stake without ending it early. It turns the locked future value of your HEX into tradable HEX Time Tokens (HTTs) — like selling claims on your stake that pay out on a specific future date.

Delegate Your Portable HEX Stake (The Envelope)

Think of a native HEX stake as a Sword in the Rock — powerful, but completely locked in place until its maturity day.

An HSI (Portable HEX Stake) is like putting that Sword in the Rock inside a sealed envelope. The envelope makes the whole thing movable: you can transfer it, borrow against it, or use it in other protocols while the sword (your HEX) stays safely locked where it belongs.

On Actuator you can:

Create a brand new HSI directly in the app, or
Bring an existing HSI you already own.

You then delegate that HSI (the envelope) to the Actuator protocol.

Key fact: Your actual HEX never leaves the HEX contract. Actuator only controls the envelope (the HSI) temporarily. The sword stays exactly where it was.

Mint HEX Time Tokens (HTTs)

Once your HSI is delegated, you can mint HTTs against the principal and accrued value inside your stake.

HTTs are fungible ERC-20 tokens grouped by maturity date. All HTTs maturing on the same day are identical and interchangeable.
You pick the maturity date when you mint (any future day where your stake has sufficient value).
You can mint in any amount, any number of times, up to the available value.

Observation: This creates a natural "yield curve." HTTs maturing soon usually trade at smaller discounts. HTTs maturing years out often trade at deeper discounts because buyers are waiting longer for their HEX.

Trade, Farm, or Hold Your HTTs

Now you have liquid tokens backed by real HEX. Your choices:

Sell them right away on the market for instant liquidity.
Add them to Actuator's liquidity pools to earn ACTR rewards.
Simply hold them until maturity.

Liquidity providers in the official HTT pools earn ACTR tokens. Check current reward rates atdocs.actuator.finance.

Redeem at Maturity

When the chosen maturity date arrives and the underlying HEX stake ends:

Any HTT holder can redeem their tokens for HEX.
Redemption is 1 HTT = 1 HEX worth of principal (proportional to the stake).
The original staker keeps any extra yield/interest that wasn't minted against.

The system is designed so every HTT stays fully backed and redeemable.

Simple Analogy Recap

→Native HEX Stake = Sword in the Rock (powerful but immovable).

→HSI = Sword in the Rock sealed in an Envelope (now portable and usable).

→Actuator = A marketplace that lets you mint and sell claims (HTTs) against the sword inside the envelope, while everything stays secure on-chain.

This flow — Delegate → Mint → Trade/Farm/Hold → Redeem — gives stakers liquidity and flexibility without breaking their core HEX stake.

Access Without a Website — IPFS

Both HEX and Actuator deploy their full application interfaces to IPFS(InterPlanetary File System) — a decentralized storage network. This means the entire user interface exists as a fixed, content-addressed file that anyone can access without relying on a traditional web server or domain name.

Why this matters:

No server downtime — IPFS files are served by a peer-to-peer network, not a single server. No server = nothing to crash
No domain seizure — governments or registrars can seize a domain name (hex.com, actuator.finance). They cannot seize an IPFS hash. The hash is the address — it's cryptographic, not legal
No censorship — no single entity controls access to the interface. Anyone running an IPFS node can pin the file and serve it to others
Trustless UI — the IPFS hash is a cryptographic fingerprint of the exact code. If anyone modifies even one byte, the hash changes completely. You can verify you're running the authentic, unmodified interface
Self-custody of the interface itself — you can download the entire app, run it locally from your own machine, and interact with the smart contracts directly. No website required, ever
Immutable audit trail — every version of the app has a unique hash. You can inspect which version you're using and compare it against the community-verified hash

How HEX uses IPFS: HEX publishes its full staking interface to IPFS. At go.hex.com, you can find the IPFS hash, download the desktop app, or access the staking interface directly through an IPFS gateway likehex.mypinata.cloud. You can stake, emergency end stake, and use every HEX function — all without touching hex.com.

How Actuator uses IPFS: Actuator also deploys its full app to IPFS. You can access all Actuator functions — delegate, mint HTTs, farm ACTR, redeem, and interact with vaults — through the IPFS-hosted interface, not just through actuator.finance. If the actuator.finance domain were ever seized, taken down, or compromised, the IPFS-hosted version would remain accessible. The smart contracts live on PulseChain and cannot be stopped — the IPFS interface ensures the front door stays open even if the website goes dark.

Key principle: In decentralized finance, the smart contracts are the protocol. The website is just a convenience layer. IPFS ensures that convenience layer is also decentralized — you never depend on a single point of failure to access your own funds.

To access Actuator or HEX via IPFS, you can use any public IPFS gateway (likeipfs.io,dweb.link, orcloudflare-ipfs.com), or run your own IPFS node for maximum sovereignty. Always verify the IPFS hash against the official source before interacting with the interface.

For the Latest Details

Step-by-step guides, risks, and current mechanics — always check the official sources.

docs.actuator.finance ↗actuator.finance (app) ↗

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Not financial advice. This site is for educational purposes only. Crypto assets including HEX, HTTs, and ACTR carry significant risks including smart contract risk, liquidity risk, and total loss of funds. Always do your own research and verify contract addresses at docs.actuator.finance.