When it comes to making money with cryptocurrency, there are many ways to do it. Diversifying into altcoins, investing in ICOs, or just daytrading in general are all valid approaches. Some coins offer a masternode system which automatically rewards users with small amounts of coins for locking up a certain amount of currency and providing valuable services to the network. Although this may sound less than appealing, it is a good way to make money, especially with new currencies.

Running a Masternode is Profitable

Setting up a masternode is not something one can do for just any currency these days. In fact, none of the major currencies – except for Dash – support this business model right now. That situation won’t change overnight either, as there is usually no incentive for running a network node these days. Especially in the world of Bitcoin and most popular altcoins, there is no reason to have masternodes.

To put this into perspective, most currencies providing masternode services focus on privacy and anonymity. Dash is perhaps the best-known currency in this regard, as it has been running a masternode incentive system for quite some time now. It does require users to lock up a lot of coins in a wallet and not spend their balances for as long as they wish to operate the node. All Dash masternodes provide InstantSend features for the entire network, which enables anonymous transactions.

One could argue Monero would have a use for masternodes in this regard, but that is not the case. Most of the Dash clones out there – and there are plenty of those – offer a masternode system which provides similar features to users of the particular network. Some of the more recent coins coming to mind include Vivo, Neutron, Crave, and VSync. All of these currencies entice users to run their own masternodes, which entitles them to a specified ROI over the course of twelve months.

In most cases, the ROI for operating a masternode is a lot lower than most people would like it to be. That is only normal, as this is not a get-rich-quick business model by any means. However, users are effectively generating passive income by constantly running a node on a device of their choosing. A VPS is the most obvious masternode solution these days, but it is equally possible to just run one on a computer or even a Raspberry Pi.

After running my own masternode for nearly a full month, it turns out there are two different purposes to setting up a masternode. First of all, you will earn a stream of passive income without much effort on your end. That in itself is a pretty decent reward. However, if you manage to buy into a coin which only launched recently, there is some good money to be made as the value of said coin goes up. In my case, I made a 450% profit in a month by both running the node and seeing the coin’s value appreciate.

Do not be mistaken in thinking only newer altcoins will explore the masternode option. Stratis, for example, will launch its own masternode system soon, although it will require around US$1 million to set up when buying the needed coins at the current price. That is a substantial amount, and it remains to be seen how many people will benefit from this opportunity. Early investors will certainly be interested in letting their coins grow in value and earning some additional money on the side.