In a recent blogpost, StakeNet announced the network had reached another milestone – surpassing the 2,000 masternodes mark. This in turn translated to over 30 million XSN invested into masternodes and another large portion of the coins being actively staked in the network. Overall, 68 million of the current supply of 81 million XSN is employed in securing the network and providing users with a return on their investment.
Why are StakeNet Masternodes Important?
XSN masternodes provide the network with specialized functionality. Not only do they maintain consensus and verify transactions – they also store a complete copy of the blockchain, thus increasing security of the blockchain. In addition, we can observe specialized functionalities, but not limited to:
- Hosting multiple blockchains for cross-chain and multi-currency wallet support (pending release)
- Masternode oracles
- Cross-Chain and Lightning dApps
- Enhanced privacy with Tor, Lightning Network and PrivateSend
- Voting and Governance
- Watchtower services
Logically, these types of nodes are an integral part of what makes StakeNet a great network for people willing to develop new products. It provides various functionality and an overall great platform for further innovation. As you can imagine, that is also one of the key selling points of StakeNet. Its developers have chosen this path as they’re eager to see what the community can come up with, when they’re supplied with the right tools for the job.
What Are The Benefits of Hosting an XSN Masternode?
Every masternode operator receives a return on his investment via the distribution of block rewards. 45% or 9 XSN is assigned to masternodes, another 45% (9XSN) go to stakers and the 10% remaining or 2 XSN are reserved for treasury and future development. In addition, every additional service that is hosted by masternode operators, provides them with the opportunity to collect fees as additional incentivization. In a nutshell, you won’t only earn money back but you’ll also assist in maintaining the network and providing security for the platform as a whole.
StakeNet Masternode Requirements
Should you decide to become an XSN masternode operator, you are presented with two possibilities:
- Hosting two separate machines, one of which can be your local cold storage for funds and a VPS for the hot wallet part of the node
- Using StakeNet’s proprietary service that allows for cloud hosting of XSN masternodes
The pre-requisites to host your own masternode are the following:
- 15,000 XSN
- StakeNet’s core wallet installed and fully synced
- One Single Core CPU, 2GB of RAM and 40GB of free storage (SSD preferred over HDD)
- 24/7 operation
- IPv4 and unlimited bandwith
If you’re eager to get started, you can check this detailed guide to get yourself set up.
Provided you chose the option to use StakeNet’s own masternode hosting services or MNaaS, you’ll only need 1 XSN in your core wallet, installed on your local PC and that’s it. You can watch a detailed video guide on XSN’s official channel.