imagine if satoshi distributed bitcoin with an ICO, accrued half of all mining rewards to an address he controlled as a "founder's reward", then took control of the majority of lost coins on the network.
that's pretty much what HEX's distribution is gonna look like:
So far we’ve established that Richard will likely make over $100 million in ETH and control 45% of all HEX after the first year. Unlike in Bitcoin where the high initial inflation rate quickly diluted Satoshi and other early adopters, HEX will only have at most a 3.69% annual inflation rate once the initial launch phase ends, so Richard’s stake will never be diluted. In fact, with the “Bigger Pays Better” bonus that pays large holders an additional 10% on their stake, his share of HEX will only increase over time.
There is an additional benefit the Origin Address receives, though, that may be even more significant than the benefit Richard receives from allotting himself 40–45% of the entire HEX supply. As the holder of the Origin Address, Richard gets paid half of all HEX reclaimed by penalties.
If you’ve only perused the Hex website, you might think that all of this penalized HEX goes to stakers, but in reality half of it is going to Richard’s Origin Address, while the other half is divided amongst the pool of every other staked participant. But remember: Richard not only possesses the Origin Address but will also comprise at least 45% of all the HEX in the staking pool after the first year. So say someone ends their stake early and is penalized 1 million HEX, Richard receives 775,000 HEX himself, leaving only 225,000 coins to be divided amongst the thousands of other stakers.
Unlike the bonuses in HEX, which expire after the initial launch phase, the penalties are a permanent part of the HEX smart contract. They will never expire, enriching Richard in perpetuity, sucking all the value away from you and accruing it to Richard himself.