27/09/22 Update - Added stats and balance information. I had a lot of downtime this month because of computer problems
Storj is a platform that provides fast and reliable cloud storage in a decentralized way. Uploaded files are split into multiple pieces, encrypted, and then stored on multiple nodes around the world. Your files are protected with a passphrase the same way your typical crypto wallets are. Not even Storj can access your files. The files are encrypted with AES-256-GCM encryption which is regarded as one of the most secure symmetric encryption cipher in the world. The file is split into 80 pieces with each piece sent to a different node. Only 29 pieces of the file are needed to retrieve the file, so if something were to happen to one or two nodes, then your data will be fine.
Storj allows you to become a node operator by running software on your computer and allocating disk space to store files. By becoming a node operator, you’re reimbursed with Storj’s token STORJ. The amount of STORJ you get depends on the uptime, storage space allocation, and the network traffic of your node.
Average payout according to their website:
It’s important to note that a portion of earnings are held back until your node gracefully exits the network to prevent lost data that your node was holding. The longer your node has been on the network, the less your earnings get held back.
There's no set minimum payment amount, but it's automatically sent if the fee is max 25% of the payout. For example, if the fee is $1.25, then the minimum payout would be $5.00.
Storj is another truly passive income stream, but it requires a fair amount of resources. It’s almost essential that you have an internet connection with unmetered bandwidth because it can use up a lot. My monthly average with 500GB disk space allocation is over 100GB of bandwidth per month, and so far it seems to increase every month as the node becomes more established. I recently upgraded my hard drive and doubled the allocation to 1TB so I expect the bandwidth usage to increase dramatically. However, this isn’t a concern for me because I have a 1Gbps connection with unlimited monthly bandwidth. Running a node also uses as much electricity as your computer consumes while it’s powered on 247 so the cost may or may not be worth it depending on your computer/electricity price/amount of storage allocated (the more storage you provide, the higher the payout). For reference, my computer would use $7USD/month worth of electricity while I make around $1.70USD/month with the minimum disk space, so it’s not worth it currently, but I’m just experimenting right now. I plan on running the Storj node on a Raspberry Pi since the max wattage is ~6W which is around $0.40USD/month where I live.
To signup and start hosting a node now, click https://www.storj.io/node
05/09/22 - My computer has been having issues lately so I don't have proper screenshots of stats and earnings but I will update once everything's running again
First Payment: Value was ~$5 when received
