Looks like not so profitable buy a node.
1250 rewards once in a 3 month, this is about 417TNT per month.
1TNT~$0,22 now, so it will be ~$92 per month ->x12=$1100 per year.
But you should have 5000TNT always on a wallet ~5000x0,22=$1100.
So, only after 1 full year(!) you will begin make profit.
Also I didn't calculate hosting price here. This is additional ~$10-20 per month.
p.s. Another problem it's too much nodes for rewards - 4000 nodes online now and will be 5000 in near future and more... Rewards in a lotto system, so more nodes, less chances to get a reward.
1250 rewards once in a 3 month, this is about 417TNT per month.
1TNT~$0,22 now, so it will be ~$92 per month ->x12=$1100 per year.
But you should have 5000TNT always on a wallet ~5000x0,22=$1100.
So, only after 1 full year(!) you will begin make profit.
Also I didn't calculate hosting price here. This is additional ~$10-20 per month.
p.s. Another problem it's too much nodes for rewards - 4000 nodes online now and will be 5000 in near future and more... Rewards in a lotto system, so more nodes, less chances to get a reward.
This is a pretty poor assessment on profitability. When you hold 5000 TNT to operate a node, you don't lose your principal balance... it is just held there while operating the node. Node profitability is a factor of many things, including the price of TNT, the number of nodes on the network (dictating win probability), and the size of the reward. Assuming the price doesn't change, at $0.22 you are making (on average) that ~$92 a month with your only overhead being the $5-10 / month hosting cost.
You are basically doubling your investment in one year... not finally turning a profit. Your main liability is the price of TNT while you hold to operate a node over the long term, but the current effective yearly interest rate (paid in TNT) buffers these fluctuations (currently ~87% (@ 4k nodes and 1000 TNT reward / 30 min, same for 5k nodes and 1250 TNT reward / 30 min)). At those returns, if the TNT price gets cut in half over the next year, you will break even. If it stays the same, you will double up. If it increases 10 fold, you will be up 20x.
That being said, the team has stated they are planning to open up registration completely in the future and eventually deliver more consistent rewards (moving away from lotto style). No date on these modifications, so we can only go on the node statistics currently available. IMO though, node operation is a long term game which requires patience. If you're the type of person that is constantly hawking prices and swing trading around, I would't recommend operating a node... but history in crypto has shown the most profitable investment method is to literally do nothing for longer than anyone else. Find a solid project, invest, then stick your head in the sand for 2 years.
The maximum number of nodes allowed on the network is dictated by the circulating TNT supply and the minimum TNT balance requirement per node. With the current circulating supply (428,481,269) and the 5000 TNT minimum balance, if 100% of tokens were applied towards node operation there would be 85,696 nodes on the network. Looking at Dash as a successful node operation, they have ~60% tied in nodes... putting a more realistic number closer to ~51k nodes if Tierion's marketcap exploded into the billions.
