Technically no one gets anything unless they exit. But you could definitely make the argument that Heart's founder incentives and the end user recruiting incentives make it more of a pyramid than a Ponzi. Neither word fits perfectly since the mechanism for HEX is seniorage rather than direct payment. New taxonomies of scam! :)
During the presale you're right, profits from HEX sales were going to Mr Heart through a variety of channels. This is a great long-form description of the mechanics of the scam for those curious about the dirty deets: https://wantfi.com/richard-hearts-hex-token-is-a-brilliant-scam.html
HEX seems more like a Pyramid scheme rather than Ponzi. Profits (from HEX sales) go to Mr. Heart mostly, stakers get nothing unless they exit.
Technically no one gets anything unless they exit. But you could definitely make the argument that Heart's founder incentives and the end user recruiting incentives make it more of a pyramid than a Ponzi. Neither word fits perfectly since the mechanism for HEX is seniorage rather than direct payment. New taxonomies of scam! :)
During the presale you're right, profits from HEX sales were going to Mr Heart through a variety of channels. This is a great long-form description of the mechanics of the scam for those curious about the dirty deets: https://wantfi.com/richard-hearts-hex-token-is-a-brilliant-scam.html