Yesterday COTI announced that they will pay TestNet Node Operators covering their costs. I was tempted but live in the wrong country to even contemplate this next step. WE have had over 100 days this year of power outages thus far and it would be a disaster to even consider this right now.
Key part of the announcement yesterday which is fair covering the Nodes costs as having Nodes available for when the time comes as growth is expected.
There are so many ways to earn via Crypto and running a node is just another such case and can be very lucrative. COTI has a minimum requirement of 100K COTI staked which would generate is the region of $750 per month. Back in November that figure would have been over $4500 which is rather decent.
Operating a TestNet Node has no guarantees of beings elected as a MainNet Node but it gives you a chance as they say you "have to be in it to win it". The Main net node is different as not only do you get a higher percentage via staking for the service but you also earn via the transactions that pass through your Node. The busier things are as development and partnerships roll out the more lucrative this will become.
COTI Node earning calculator.
In theory this could easily become a business on it's own overtaking what you earn as your day job. If in a bear Market you are earning $750 per month this is like a worst case scenario whereas the opposite in a Bull could see these earnings well north of $10K monthly. Once the dust settles and the prices find their sweet spot the $10K could be the normal monthly earnings just by being patient over the next couple of years. A Node operator is vital for decentralization and they playa key role in keeping the blockchain running smoothly similar to what the witnesses on Hive do.
I suppose earning via trading, staking and running a Node would be what you would call all in on Crypto and one would expect to make a decent living way above the average person in the street. If I was living In Europe I would be seriously tempted and who knows maybe there will be another opportunity later on.