If you want to get involved in staking or masternodes, but don't know how, or don't know which coins to invest in, or want to learn more, well, you've come to the right place. This is not financial advice and I'm not going to give you a primer on security; for that, see [notsofast's article here](https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@notsofast/4-ways-to-secure-your-bags-bitcoin-altcoins-cryptoasset-tokens-whatever-a-notsofast-security-primer) and DYOR (always always always). I'm going to assume you use windows (because that's all I know haha) but the instructions should be basically the same for Mac. And if you are using Linux you don't need my help anyway.

STAKING

This is much easier than masternodes. It's so freaking easy. 

STEP 1: If you don't have one, you're going to need a computer you can run 24/7. I personally bought a cheap used desktop, but you can use a small laptop or whatever. You don't need much power. If you are going to run multiple staking wallets, you might need more RAM but just start with one wallet.

STEP 2: Go to the official site of the coin you want to stake. Find the Wallet download. It's going to be an EXE that is usually named <coin name>-qt.exe or something like that. It might be a zip file with some other files, but that's the file you want to run. 

STEP 3: Run the file. Wait for the blockchain to sync - this will be some kind of loading bar at the bottom, you'll see it.

STEP 4 (usually optional but recommended): On the menu on top, find the option that says "Encrypt Wallet." This will password protect your wallet. Record your password somewhere safe and DO NOT LOSE IT. It is not your private key, but without it, your coins are gone. 

This will also likely cause the wallet to shut down or restart. 

STEP 5: You need to find where it stores the data; usually this will be a path like C:/Users/<YourComputerUserName>/AppData/Roaming/<Coin Name>. Find a file called Wallet.Dat. THIS FILE IS YOUR COINS. IT CONTAINS YOUR PRIVATE KEYS. DO NOT UPLOAD THIS ANYWHERE EVER,  BACK IT UP CAREFULLY, AND DO NOT LOSE IT! 

Note that after you encrypt the wallet, this file will be replaced; be sure to keep the new one.

STEP 6: If you encrypted your wallet, you need to look on the menu on top again and find the option to unlock wallet. Check the "For staking only" option (wording may vary), and enter your password. 

STEP 7: Click on the "Recieve" Button. Find the Address, and send your coins there. (You can do this at any point after opening the wallet, really.)

That's all you have to do. Just keep the computer running and don't close the wallet program. The coins often have to "mature" which means it might be a few hours or more before you start staking. You can check the status by hovering over one of the icons which are usually on the bottom right. It will say something like "Not staking because..." or "Staking". 

You will start minting new coins and this is a ton of fun and profit.

WHICH COINS TO STAKE?

There are two options: Good coins, which will generally have a more reasonable ROI (return on investment, meaning how much of the initial investment will be 'made back' by staking for a year) and will have good fundamentals and use cases; and S***coins (I'm going to call them garbage coins because I don't like cursing), which will usually have a huge, insane ROI, but the price may plummet. These are coins with bad or non-existent fundamentals.

There are some "good" garbage coins though. I've been burned by some, and succeeded with others, so I will share my findings with you.

Let's start with the good coins. Just a couple things to mention, 1) the ROI is usually not static and can vary and change. Use it only as an approximation of how it will start. 2) Many coins are both staking and masternode coins, I'll list them in both lists when applicable.

GOOD COINS

 - LUX - This is perhaps the best coin that has decent returns and also is a promising long term hold. It's low marketcap, as well - it is sort of a jack-of-all-trades coin, with staking, mining (with an algo they claim is the most efficient of all), masternodes, privacy, smart contracts, and so on. It's an interesting project. 

Roi  ~15-20%

 - NEBLIO - This is also a gem that has risen into the top 100. It is a total proof of stake coin, with a VERY good lead developer who consistently meets or exceeds the roadmap goals. It's a platform project which aims to make it easy for enterprises to start blockchain apps. 

Roi ~10%

 - DIAMOND - I'm not totally sold on this coin having any real value, as it is basically just a POS store-of-value coin with a low supply. They do have some interesting features, though, and it's been around a while. 

Roi ~ 25%

 - PHORE - This is a very low cap gem. It's also similar to Lux in that it's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, have a look at it. 

Roi ~ 33%

These are all coins I would feel comfortable holding long term. Diamond might be an exception, but at least for small or moderate amounts, it's a fine hold.

GARBAGE COINS

I'd like to say that these are not *necessarily* bad projects, they just very well might be. DYOR. But I do recommend them for staking. All of these have masternode options as well. I will write later about how to avoid being burned with garbage coins.

 - IGNITION COIN - This coins doesn't do much, and the insane ROI will only be for another 9 months or so; after the first year of its existence, the rewards go way down, and the total supply is 5 million. The price has been holding stable around $3/coin for quite some time. 

ROI - I'm actually not sure, but it is high, I believe over 100%.

 - DEVIANT - I don't know too too much about this, but it's holding fairly steady and I think it's a *somewhat* legitimate project. The rewards for staking will go down, as right now it's 50% rewards to stakers, 50% to masternodes, but will incrementally move to 10% stakes/90% masternodes. 

ROI - Again not sure, but high; I think more than 100%. 

SOME OTHER NOTES ABOUT STAKING:

 - Other good staking coins that have lower roi: Qtum, Nexus, Stratis, Pivx.

 - Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS Coins usually let you vote for the Delegates/Witnesses and get paid (Steem is different, obviously, as witnesses don't pay). Be careful here because DPoS has an issue which I once wrote about - Lisk in particular - where it is possible for the top Delegates to simply all vote for themselves and get so much stake that they cannot be removed. Examples you can look at for delegated staking: Ark, Lisk, Shift.

Coins that have alternative, different "staking" mechanisms: Neo, Decred (good ROI but need ~$5k worth to stake), Komodo, Nem.

MASTERNODES

I am not going to show you how to set up a masternode. You can contribute to shared masternodes at Staking Labs ([shameless ref link](https://pool.stakinglab.io/ref/640fe44244)) but for your own MN, you'll have to do the research. It's not that hard, but it's involved enough that you need to be able to read the guides that the team puts out and then ask in Discord if you get stuck. 

(I'll just give you the main points. You'll have to  have a wallet, much like with staking, with exactly the right amount of coins. You'll then have to go to Vultr.com and rent a Virtual Private Server (VPS). Which one depends on the coin. This is basically like a linux computer that you control remotely.  You'll then type in a bunch of commands that you won't understand (unless you know Linux) and do some clicking around in the wallet. then boom, the coins in your wallet will be linked to this masternode which will run on the VPS. You will still have control of your private key and it won't be exposed to the VPS.)

(On a related note, take a look at the GIN platform for easy MN setup for several coins.)

Here are my picks for the best Masternodes. I will say that I do contribute to some shared MNs, but I only have 1 of my own. This is in contrast to the Staking section where I have staked all those coins.

GOOD COINS:

 - The expensive Masternodes:  Dash, Lux, Diamond, Pivx, Zoin, etc. 

There are more, but these are all above $50k. Congrats if you got in on Dash early because a MN was worth like $1.5 million at its all-time-high. If you can afford these, do your own research. (Also, DYOR - always.)

- Zcoin 

Approximate current cost: 1000 XZC @ $44.86 = ~$44,860

ROI ~26%

This is probably the best coin, fundamentally, that has a masternode. It's a top, established privacy coin. It's not a huge ROI but it's a great project.

 - Phore 

Approximate current cost: 10,000 PHR @ $2.42 = ~$24,200

This was mentioned in the staking section.

ROI~ 41%

GARBAGE COINS:

 - Qbic 

Approximate current cost: 1,000 QBC @ $0.58 = ~$588

ROI~ 210%

This is the only masternode I have. I bought in when Qbic was $0.25 and it's more than doubled, but it's still cheap at $588 and will give you about 10 Qbic a day, at least right now, which is about $5 a day. Pretty rad. And though I did put this in the Garbage section, it was abandoned by original devs and taken over by the community, and they do seem to have a roadmap and a use case, so this could actually turn out to be a decent coin. Unclear right  now.

 - Deviant 

Approximate current cost: 5,000 DEV @ $2.10 = ~$10,505

I have a 10% contribution in a stakinglabs shared node, but have never run my own. However, the price seems stable, and the rewards are going up. It's huge ROI as long as the price doesn't tank.

ROI~ 438%

Bitcoin Green

Approximate current cost: 2,500 BITG @ $4.78 = ~$11,950

Same deal as Dev basically. Stable price, but IMO it's a total garbage coin so be careful.

ROI~ 194.86%

Ignition coin is basically the same as BITG, as well.

Welp, there you have it. None of this was financial advice, do your own research, blah blah blah. Hope you liked it. Now get staking and masternoding!!