Since its inception, Pulsechain has positioned itself as a cost-effective alternative to Ethereum, especially noted for its lower gas fees. This attribute has fostered an environment ripe for various income-generating activities, particularly around HEX, a cryptocurrency designed with unique staking mechanisms. Here's how you can leverage HEX on Pulsechain beyond simple staking:

1. Liquidity Providing: Providing liquidity is one of the core ways to earn passive income in DeFi, and with Pulsechain's lower transaction costs, it becomes even more attractive:

• PulseX (PLSX): The most liquid exchange on Pulsechain, providing liquidity here pays yield in swap fees as well as INC farming.
• PHUX: An fork of the Balancer V2 protocol, PHUX allows for customizable liquidity pools. Here, you can provide HEX in different weighted pools, allowing for strategic exposure management while earning from transaction fees and potentially from PHUX's own reward mechanisms.
• V3 Options: Pulsechain has several dexes with V3 LP pools, such as the forked Uniswap contracts, 9inch, and 9mm. Providing LP in V3 pools is more involved than V2, be sure you understand the ins and outs before playing with real HEX.

2. Maximus Perpetual Tokens: Maximus DAO offers an innovative approach with perpetual tokens where you can essentially buy into the yield that HEX has accumulated in the past. Things get very interesting due to ratio changes on the various dexes. See example below and check anytime at https://lookintomaxi.com/token-arbs/

• Yield Trading: Instead of waiting for staking rewards, you can directly purchase past yield, potentially offering immediate returns or leveraging for further financial strategies. This is often further enhanced due to price fluctuations on dexes. These tokens require patience to gain full potential in terms of ROI in HEX, and carry the risk of price movement, as a premium/discount of HEX's price movement. 

3. Yield Farming: Several yield farms exist on Pulsechain with HEX LPs as an option for deposit. For example iDAI on Function Island's dex, and INC on PulseX  

• Farming iDAI: Function Island's dex pays LP stakers yield in iDAI (1:1 backed by DAI from ETH), which already has several uses within the Function Island ecosystem beyond being "wrapped dai" with several more things being worked on. The iDAI paid is from dex fees, instead of relying on a new token's inflation.
• Farming INC: By providing liquidity in pools promoted on PulseX, like HEX/PLS, users are rewarded with INC tokens. This not only promotes liquidity but also integrates you deeper into the Pulsechain ecosystem, potentially increasing your gains as the ecosystem grows. This also comes with risks; potential for impermanent loss and the inflationary nature of INC itself for example.
• Farming PHUX & 2PHUX: 2PHUX is an innovative platform for incentivizing LP on the PHUX dex. PHUX is Pulsechain's fork of the Balancer protocol, and farming through 2PHUX rewards more than if you farm alone on PHUX. 

4. General DeFi Strategies:

• Arbitrage: With the price differences between decentralized exchanges due to varying liquidity, astute traders can engage in arbitrage involving HEX pairs, capitalizing on the price inefficiencies.
• Ratio Trading (high risk): Betting on price swings between 2 tokens (e.g. HEX/WPLS).
• Swing Trading (high risk): Betting on price swings vs USD.
• Leverage Trading: Some centralized exchanges may offer leveraged trading of HEX, but you can do it on Pulsechain via Phame.
• Lending/Borrowing: Provide HEX as collateral or borrow HEX using other collateral on Phiat for example. This enables leveraging and shorting, which can lead to increased risk, be sure to understand what are doing. 

Great Resource with many links for HEX & Pulsechain: PLStart

Wrap Up:

Pulsechain's ecosystem, with its lower cost of transactions, opens up a plethora of opportunities for HEX holders beyond traditional staking. From liquidity pools in PulseX and PHUX to engaging with sophisticated financial instruments like Maximus perpetual tokens, the possibilities are diverse. Each method comes with its own set of risks and rewards, but for those looking to maximize their HEX holdings, exploring these avenues could prove significantly beneficial. Always remember, however, the higher the potential return, often the higher the risk, so due diligence and perhaps a bit of degenerate spirit are recommended in navigating the deep and exciting world of Pulsechain DeFi.