Get to Know the Zcoin Masternode
Zcoin masternodes are known as Znodes and their role is to verify Zerocoin transactions. Because of this their function, Znodes earn 30% of Zcoin’s block reward (for now). To run a Znode, you are required to stake 1000XZC. The aim of this is to stimulate you to keep your masternode working properly and be online as close to 24/7 as possible.
In terms of the main goal of the project, Zcoin aims to increase the financial privacy and individual liberty of users to ensure freedom of trading. One of the major beliefs of the team behind it is that users should be able to trade however they want as long as it doesn’t compromise the security and well-being of others or the network. The Zcoin network is the first to adopt the MTP algorithm. Merkle Tree Proof is a new proof of work algorithm which is very memory intensive. This makes developing and using ASIC miners to mine the coins hard and unprofitable. This puts all users on a level playing field and makes 51% attacks practically impossible.
Now, when we already have some general overview of Zcoin and its nodes, let’s have a deeper look into the masternode rewarding system and how to set up a Znode.
How to Make Money from Zcoin Masternodes
The current reward per block is 50 XZC, which is being divided in to 3 parts. Znodes receive 15XZC, miners receive 28XZC and the rest 7XZC go to the development team to finance updates. This distribution model will remain unchanged until the year 2021 where a new system will be introduced.
Every Znode that is live in the network gets into a queue system where each node waits in line for a pay-out. The moment a masternode receives a reward, it goes at the back of the queue and waits until its turn comes up. This model is one of the most common ones and looks like the fairest and most balanced one. It provides equal ground for all users running Znodes to receive their reward.
Zcoin Masternode Setup
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Lets see what you will need to do in order to host your own Znode and its minimum requirements:
- First of all, you should make sure that you have 1000 XZC as that is the amount you need to setup the node. The coins can be bought on Binance or Bittrex
- In order for you to hold the coins in an address dedicated to the masternode, you will need a wallet. You can go ahead and download the official wallet
- You main computer which can be your everyday PC can be used to host the wallet
- A VPS with a dedicated IP address and at least a single core CPU, 1GB of RAM and 40GB of disk space
- linux
- wallet
- chaincoin
How to Set Up a Zcoin Masternode Step by Step
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Setup a VPS. You can either host the VPS on your own machine or contact your provider if they offer a VPS service. Please be aware that you will need a dedicated IP address
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Install OS on the VPS. In order for the computer to run the Virtual Private Server, it will need an OS beforehand. A good open source software that you can use to connect to your VPS is PuTTy.
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Install a wallet. The only way to be able to run the Zcoin Masternode is by installing the official zcoin wallet and keep the 1000 coins there.
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Send coins to the Znode address. You will need to send exactly 1000 XZC to the wallet address assigned to the masternode.
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Run the masternode. In order to start the masternode, you need to open the Zcoin core wallet and use the start masternode option.