What is DCA? DCA is an investment method that consists of buying assets (like cryptocurrencies) at regular prices and at regular times, rather than a single transaction.
This helps reduce the impact of price fluctuations on the overall investment and can help investors feel more comfortable. This is a popular method for investors looking to smooth their investment in order to protect themselves as much as possible from declines and take full advantage of increases!
How does the DCA work? The DCA method works by buying assets at regular prices and times rather than in a single transaction.
For example, if you want to invest €1000 in Bitcoin, you can decide to buy them in several transactions of €200 each day, week or month, rather than all at once.
This means that if the price of Bitcoin increases after your first trade, you will have purchased your tokens at a lower price in subsequent trades. If the price of Bitcoin drops after your first trade, you will have bought your coins at a higher price in subsequent trades.
How to set up a DCA? There are several online services/apps that allow you to set up a DCA.
BITGEN is one of these apps:
Step1: Open an user account Step2: Select your crypto currency Step3: Setting up DCA Step4: Your savings are in place and accessible from your dashboard ! BITGEN: Discover DCA offers
Staking and masternodes are the cornerstones of the functioning of blockchains based on proof-of-stake. They are the two main vectors of passive income in the new finance of crypto-assets.
Staking / Masternodes, what is it? The masternodes A masternode is a server holding a complete copy of the blockchain and whose purpose is to provide functionalities to the protocol such as validation and securing transaction blocks.
Staking Staking, or Proof-Of-Stake, is a process that help a blockchain network to create blocks and validate transactions.
What is Proof-Of-Stake ? This complex mechanism maintains and secures the transaction protocol running through validators in the cloud called “masternodes”.
This consensus immobilizes a capital (or collateral) and *rewards with commissions the holder of the validator or the wallet with tokens of the said blockchain.
Participants thus generate new tokens passively with the rewards offered by blockchain networks for immobilizing their capital.
The collateral The best synonym for collateral is most likely caution. This is the amount of crypto-assets you choose to immobilize. We could also talk about capital.
The APR The APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is the percentage of profitability of a masternode or a staking.
This number is expressed in % and it varies from one project to another. From this percentage will simply flow the total cumulative amount of rewards over 1 year, in the crypto-asset in which you have invested.
EX: If you buy collateral of 100,000 tokens today, at 25% APR, in 1 year, you will be leading 100,000 + (25% of 100,000) = 125,000 tokens.
The rewards The rewards are different depending on the project and the method used (masternodes / stacking / lending / yield farming / …).
These vary from 4% to 50% and can evolve over time downwards or upwards in proportion to the use of said blockchain.
When the network of a crypto-asset uses a masternode, it rewards it. For example, if the reward/block is 1000 tokens and there are one hundred masternodes on the network, each masternode will earn 10 tokens. The mining speed of a block ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes.
How to choose between a masternode and staking ?
Where to start ? Before starting, you must be understood that today, to make crypto-assets work, it is necessary to maintain an IT infrastructure. This maintenance is a complex, costly and sometimes risky operation that can lead to the loss of capital!
What pays the most ? Staking Vs. Masternode The masternodes Masternodes are complete nodes, providing to the target blockchain network with all the functionality it needs to function. As a result, they generally have a higher ROI on the one hand, but on the other hand, they are also much more expensive to operate: server rental, greater number of tokens to immobilize and pro-active maintenance of the system is required !
The staking Staking requires a little less effort and investment from the participant. The ROI is usually a bit lower and the amount of required tokens is lower. No need to rent a server, just to make a few transactions from a wallet of said blockchain to a smart contract.
Here is the list of criteria to consider when choosing your investment: Your ability to administer a linux server in the cloud Your level of knowledge in blockchain technologies The time you want/can devote to this activity Your risk profile in terms of ROI (Return On Investment) Your investment capacity Traps to avoid At the time of writing, more than 12,000 different tokens are in circulation and more than 350 projects based on Proof-Of-Stake exist!
Unfortunately most of these projects are often scams (scam, ponzi, shitcoin, …) which promise you “mountains and wonders” with ROI sometimes reaching several tens of thousands of %!
But be careful! Let’s keep a little common sense! What investment today offers several tens of thousands of % return? NONE ! So you must be VERY vigilant when you choose to invest in a masternode or staking !
You absolutely must look at these essential criteria (non-exhaustive list): Which place does the token have on Coinmarketcap? (is it in the top 50, 500, 1000 or 10000?) What is its outstanding supply ? Is the generation of new tokens infinite or is it capped ? How much ROI is the masternode / staking? (usually between 4% and 50% for serious projects) What is the volume available in the exchangers? (the less volume, the more difficult it will be for you to resell your tokens) What is the technology used? Is it updated regularly? (information you can find in the “white-paper” of the project) Do we know the team behind the project? Once these questions are answered, you can be “canary”, remembering in all faith that the risk 0 does not exist and that any investment is by definition risky!
Self-host a masternode or a wallet for staking After reading this post, if you still want to embark on the adventure of hosting a masternode or your own staking wallet, you will find all the necessary information on this blog !
We provide you with all the tutorials to assist you in the proper implementation of your nodes in the following sections:
Technical implementation of masternodes Technical implementation of staking Choose a hosting service provider If, on the other hand, you don’t feel like hosting your masternode or staking yourself, you have the choice of delegating this task to a specialized service provider!
You have to be careful here too! If you are a French resident, you will need to go to a French company that has PSAN registration, that is to say that the company that will provide you with the hosting services is approved by AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers).
There are about forty companies with PSAN registration in France, only three of which provide these hosting services.
BITGEN is one of these three companies and offers you a preferential rate to take care of the entire management of your masternodes as well as your staking from A to Z ! It also offers savings accounts made up of baskets of several crypto-assets depending on your risk profile !
Use the promo code: STAKING-BLOG-2023 to enjoy 10% discount on your next purchase, valid on masternodes / staking / savings books.
What is DCA? DCA is an investment method that consists of buying assets (like cryptocurrencies) at regular prices and at regular times, rather than a single transaction.
This helps reduce the impact of price fluctuations on the overall investment and can help investors feel more comfortable. This is a popular method for investors looking to smooth their investment in order to protect themselves as much as possible from declines and take full advantage of increases!
How does the DCA work? The DCA method works by buying assets at regular prices and times rather than in a single transaction.
For example, if you want to invest €1000 in Bitcoin, you can decide to buy them in several transactions of €200 each day, week or month, rather than all at once.
This means that if the price of Bitcoin increases after your first trade, you will have purchased your tokens at a lower price in subsequent trades. If the price of Bitcoin drops after your first trade, you will have bought your coins at a higher price in subsequent trades.
How to set up a DCA? There are several online services/apps that allow you to set up a DCA.
BITGEN is one of these apps:
Step1: Open an user account Step2: Select your crypto currency Step3: Setting up DCA Step4: Your savings are in place and accessible from your dashboard ! BITGEN: Discover DCA offers
To access your server’s console, you will need to open an SSH tunnel connection. It’s a secure connection that will encrypt the dialogue between your computer and your server. For this, you must have an SSH client on your local computer and configure the SSH service on your server.
Summary of the tutorial 1. First connection 2. Securing the server 2.1 Add user 2.2 Change SSH port 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) 2.4 Key authentication (server side) 1. First connection Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on keys windows + r
Enter cmd in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
> ssh root@server_ip The following message is displayed : The authenticity of host '138.68.87.113 (138.68.87.113)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:RBuop6/a8DrySzRx+XSw2uhY38DKkmlrjfMY+55iGAo. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
answer yes
Warning: Permanently added '138.68.87.113' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts. The terminal now prompts you for the root password
root@138.68.87.113's password: Enter the password then confirm by pressing the enter key.
You are now connected to the terminal of your remote server! root@v2202206177897232182:~#
2. Securing the server We will now add some additional securities to your SSH connection.
2.1 Add user The first thing to do is to reduce the execution rights of your login user. The root user has full control over the system and it can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands or if you do something wrong by mistake. We are therefore going to create a new user dedicated to this connection.
Log in as root to your server and enter the following commands :
> adduser --gecos "" maintainer The --gecos option will not display questions relating to the identity of the new user (Last name, First name, Telephone number, …) Adding user `maintainer' ... Adding new group `maintainer' (1000) ... Adding new user `maintainer' (1000) with group `maintainer' ... Creating home directory `/home/maintainer' ... Copying files from `/etc/skel' ... New password: Retype new password: passwd: password updated successfully Choose your password then confirm with the enter key.
Let’s add the newly created user to the “sudoers” group to raise its execution level
> usermod -aG sudo maintainer You can now log in as user maintainer !
2.2 Change SSH port For this we will edit the configuration file of the SSH service
Connect as user maintainer to your server and enter the following commands :
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Replace line
#Port 22 by (or any other available port of your choice)
Port 22123 To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
To apply the modification :
> sudo systemctl restart ssh In the future to connect to the server you will have to enter from your local terminal :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) To secure our SSH connection a little more, we are now going to create a public/private key pair to encrypt our exchanges with the server.
Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on the windows + r key
Enter powershell in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
In the terminal that appears
> start-process PowerShell -verb runas this will launch a new shell in admin mode
Enter the following command to enable the SSH service on your machine > Get-Service -Name sshd | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic then the command
> Start-Service sshd We will create a pair of public key / private key
> ssh-keygen -t RSA -C "tuto@bitgen.com" You can press enter to accept the default or specify a path and/or filename where you would like your keys to be generated.
The passphrase is optional
Generating public/private RSA key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (C:\Users\hlavi/.ssh/id_rsa): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: SHA256:mvNMWgMO+QbD9GTQuSjD556wYK63kwMp3nyZzRVftGU tuto@bitgen.com The key's randomart image is: +---[RSA 3072]----+ | .. . | | .o . E | | . ..o. . + | | +oo=. . o | | . =* o S o . | |=.. .* + . . | |=oo= .% = | | o*oo= X . | |o..+. . o | +----[SHA256]-----+ Then, we need to copy the public key to the server.
Let’s create the /home/maintainer/.ssh folder for the maintainer user on the server :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 mkdir /home/maintainer/.ssh Enter the password to validate the creation of the file
Linux / MacOS Windows > ssh-copy-id -p 22123 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip Always in the PowerShell console
Let’s copy the key in the directory just created
> scp -P 22123 C:\Users\your_windows_user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip:/home/maintainer/.ssh/authorized_keys Enter the password to validate the copy of the file
2.4 Key authentication (server side) Now that we have created a new user, changed the connection port of our SSH service and transferred the public key from our local computeur to the server, we will prohibit the direct connection by password as well as the user root and rather prefer an authentication key.
Edit the SSH service configuration file
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config replace line
PermitRootLogin yes by
PermitRootLogin no then replace line
PasswordAuthentication yes by
PasswordAuthentication no and finally, uncomment the line
#PubkeyAuthentication yes by
PubkeyAuthentication yes To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
Then validate the configuration by restarting the SSH service
> sudo systemctl restart ssh You can now log in without a password, directly from your SSH key !
This document will help you install and configure a UFW firewall to secure incoming connections to your server. We will detail here the basics to customize over the tutorials available on this blog.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Installation 2. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the UFW firewall package :
> sudo apt install -y ufw 2. Configuration In our base configuration, we will disallow all incoming connections
> sudo ufw default deny incoming Then we will only allow connections to the SSH port (here port 22123)
> sudo ufw allow 22123/tcp To validate the configuration run the command :
> sudo ufw enable To check the status of your firewall :
> sudo ufw status verbose If all went well, this last command should print :
Status: active Logging: on (low) Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing), disabled (routed) New profiles: skip To Action From -- ------ ---- 22123/tcp ALLOW IN Anywhere 22123/tcp (v6) ALLOW IN Anywhere (v6)
This document will help you to install and configure Docker.
Docker is a platform that lets you design, test, and deploy applications quickly. Docker integrates software into standardized units called containers, which bring together all the elements necessary for their operation, including libraries, system tools, code and runtime environment.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more simply and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Preparing the package manager 2. Docker Engine installation 3. Docker Compose installation Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Preparing the package manager Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then let’s configure the package manager to fetch Docker properly :
> sudo apt-get -y install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release > sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg && sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg > echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null 2. Docker Engine installation > sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin To verify the installation :
> docker --version Docker version 20.10.17, build 100c701
This document will help you to install and configure the GIT code version manager.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more easily and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Summary of the tutorial 0. Prerequisite 2. Installation 3. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the necessary package for GIT :
> sudo apt-get -y install git 2. Configuration The following commands will inform GIT about the user who will manage the code repositories
> git config --global user.name "Maintainer BITGEN" > git config --global user.email tuto@bitgen.com
Staking and masternodes are the cornerstones of the functioning of blockchains based on proof-of-stake. They are the two main vectors of passive income in the new finance of crypto-assets.
Staking / Masternodes, what is it? The masternodes A masternode is a server holding a complete copy of the blockchain and whose purpose is to provide functionalities to the protocol such as validation and securing transaction blocks.
Staking Staking, or Proof-Of-Stake, is a process that help a blockchain network to create blocks and validate transactions.
What is Proof-Of-Stake ? This complex mechanism maintains and secures the transaction protocol running through validators in the cloud called “masternodes”.
This consensus immobilizes a capital (or collateral) and *rewards with commissions the holder of the validator or the wallet with tokens of the said blockchain.
Participants thus generate new tokens passively with the rewards offered by blockchain networks for immobilizing their capital.
The collateral The best synonym for collateral is most likely caution. This is the amount of crypto-assets you choose to immobilize. We could also talk about capital.
The APR The APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is the percentage of profitability of a masternode or a staking.
This number is expressed in % and it varies from one project to another. From this percentage will simply flow the total cumulative amount of rewards over 1 year, in the crypto-asset in which you have invested.
EX: If you buy collateral of 100,000 tokens today, at 25% APR, in 1 year, you will be leading 100,000 + (25% of 100,000) = 125,000 tokens.
The rewards The rewards are different depending on the project and the method used (masternodes / stacking / lending / yield farming / …).
These vary from 4% to 50% and can evolve over time downwards or upwards in proportion to the use of said blockchain.
When the network of a crypto-asset uses a masternode, it rewards it. For example, if the reward/block is 1000 tokens and there are one hundred masternodes on the network, each masternode will earn 10 tokens. The mining speed of a block ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes.
How to choose between a masternode and staking ?
Where to start ? Before starting, you must be understood that today, to make crypto-assets work, it is necessary to maintain an IT infrastructure. This maintenance is a complex, costly and sometimes risky operation that can lead to the loss of capital!
What pays the most ? Staking Vs. Masternode The masternodes Masternodes are complete nodes, providing to the target blockchain network with all the functionality it needs to function. As a result, they generally have a higher ROI on the one hand, but on the other hand, they are also much more expensive to operate: server rental, greater number of tokens to immobilize and pro-active maintenance of the system is required !
The staking Staking requires a little less effort and investment from the participant. The ROI is usually a bit lower and the amount of required tokens is lower. No need to rent a server, just to make a few transactions from a wallet of said blockchain to a smart contract.
Here is the list of criteria to consider when choosing your investment: Your ability to administer a linux server in the cloud Your level of knowledge in blockchain technologies The time you want/can devote to this activity Your risk profile in terms of ROI (Return On Investment) Your investment capacity Traps to avoid At the time of writing, more than 12,000 different tokens are in circulation and more than 350 projects based on Proof-Of-Stake exist!
Unfortunately most of these projects are often scams (scam, ponzi, shitcoin, …) which promise you “mountains and wonders” with ROI sometimes reaching several tens of thousands of %!
But be careful! Let’s keep a little common sense! What investment today offers several tens of thousands of % return? NONE ! So you must be VERY vigilant when you choose to invest in a masternode or staking !
You absolutely must look at these essential criteria (non-exhaustive list): Which place does the token have on Coinmarketcap? (is it in the top 50, 500, 1000 or 10000?) What is its outstanding supply ? Is the generation of new tokens infinite or is it capped ? How much ROI is the masternode / staking? (usually between 4% and 50% for serious projects) What is the volume available in the exchangers? (the less volume, the more difficult it will be for you to resell your tokens) What is the technology used? Is it updated regularly? (information you can find in the “white-paper” of the project) Do we know the team behind the project? Once these questions are answered, you can be “canary”, remembering in all faith that the risk 0 does not exist and that any investment is by definition risky!
Self-host a masternode or a wallet for staking After reading this post, if you still want to embark on the adventure of hosting a masternode or your own staking wallet, you will find all the necessary information on this blog !
We provide you with all the tutorials to assist you in the proper implementation of your nodes in the following sections:
Technical implementation of masternodes Technical implementation of staking Choose a hosting service provider If, on the other hand, you don’t feel like hosting your masternode or staking yourself, you have the choice of delegating this task to a specialized service provider!
You have to be careful here too! If you are a French resident, you will need to go to a French company that has PSAN registration, that is to say that the company that will provide you with the hosting services is approved by AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers).
There are about forty companies with PSAN registration in France, only three of which provide these hosting services.
BITGEN is one of these three companies and offers you a preferential rate to take care of the entire management of your masternodes as well as your staking from A to Z ! It also offers savings accounts made up of baskets of several crypto-assets depending on your risk profile !
Use the promo code: STAKING-BLOG-2023 to enjoy 10% discount on your next purchase, valid on masternodes / staking / savings books.
The STAKING-BLOG is online! Many of you asked us during the beta phase, it has arrived 😁🥳!
In summary :
All about masternodes and staking News to inform you about the evolution of this marvelous universe! This blog is brand new and it will be enriched over the weeks, with a technical topic / tutorial every Wednesday and a few brief ones throughout the week!
A big thank you to all our beta testers and early investors! We hope that this blog will please you and will evaluate where you expect it!
See you soon,
The BITGEN team
What is DCA? DCA is an investment method that consists of buying assets (like cryptocurrencies) at regular prices and at regular times, rather than a single transaction.
This helps reduce the impact of price fluctuations on the overall investment and can help investors feel more comfortable. This is a popular method for investors looking to smooth their investment in order to protect themselves as much as possible from declines and take full advantage of increases!
How does the DCA work? The DCA method works by buying assets at regular prices and times rather than in a single transaction.
For example, if you want to invest €1000 in Bitcoin, you can decide to buy them in several transactions of €200 each day, week or month, rather than all at once.
This means that if the price of Bitcoin increases after your first trade, you will have purchased your tokens at a lower price in subsequent trades. If the price of Bitcoin drops after your first trade, you will have bought your coins at a higher price in subsequent trades.
How to set up a DCA? There are several online services/apps that allow you to set up a DCA.
BITGEN is one of these apps:
Step1: Open an user account Step2: Select your crypto currency Step3: Setting up DCA Step4: Your savings are in place and accessible from your dashboard ! BITGEN: Discover DCA offers
To access your server’s console, you will need to open an SSH tunnel connection. It’s a secure connection that will encrypt the dialogue between your computer and your server. For this, you must have an SSH client on your local computer and configure the SSH service on your server.
Summary of the tutorial 1. First connection 2. Securing the server 2.1 Add user 2.2 Change SSH port 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) 2.4 Key authentication (server side) 1. First connection Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on keys windows + r
Enter cmd in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
> ssh root@server_ip The following message is displayed : The authenticity of host '138.68.87.113 (138.68.87.113)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:RBuop6/a8DrySzRx+XSw2uhY38DKkmlrjfMY+55iGAo. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
answer yes
Warning: Permanently added '138.68.87.113' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts. The terminal now prompts you for the root password
root@138.68.87.113's password: Enter the password then confirm by pressing the enter key.
You are now connected to the terminal of your remote server! root@v2202206177897232182:~#
2. Securing the server We will now add some additional securities to your SSH connection.
2.1 Add user The first thing to do is to reduce the execution rights of your login user. The root user has full control over the system and it can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands or if you do something wrong by mistake. We are therefore going to create a new user dedicated to this connection.
Log in as root to your server and enter the following commands :
> adduser --gecos "" maintainer The --gecos option will not display questions relating to the identity of the new user (Last name, First name, Telephone number, …) Adding user `maintainer' ... Adding new group `maintainer' (1000) ... Adding new user `maintainer' (1000) with group `maintainer' ... Creating home directory `/home/maintainer' ... Copying files from `/etc/skel' ... New password: Retype new password: passwd: password updated successfully Choose your password then confirm with the enter key.
Let’s add the newly created user to the “sudoers” group to raise its execution level
> usermod -aG sudo maintainer You can now log in as user maintainer !
2.2 Change SSH port For this we will edit the configuration file of the SSH service
Connect as user maintainer to your server and enter the following commands :
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Replace line
#Port 22 by (or any other available port of your choice)
Port 22123 To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
To apply the modification :
> sudo systemctl restart ssh In the future to connect to the server you will have to enter from your local terminal :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) To secure our SSH connection a little more, we are now going to create a public/private key pair to encrypt our exchanges with the server.
Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on the windows + r key
Enter powershell in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
In the terminal that appears
> start-process PowerShell -verb runas this will launch a new shell in admin mode
Enter the following command to enable the SSH service on your machine > Get-Service -Name sshd | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic then the command
> Start-Service sshd We will create a pair of public key / private key
> ssh-keygen -t RSA -C "tuto@bitgen.com" You can press enter to accept the default or specify a path and/or filename where you would like your keys to be generated.
The passphrase is optional
Generating public/private RSA key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (C:\Users\hlavi/.ssh/id_rsa): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: SHA256:mvNMWgMO+QbD9GTQuSjD556wYK63kwMp3nyZzRVftGU tuto@bitgen.com The key's randomart image is: +---[RSA 3072]----+ | .. . | | .o . E | | . ..o. . + | | +oo=. . o | | . =* o S o . | |=.. .* + . . | |=oo= .% = | | o*oo= X . | |o..+. . o | +----[SHA256]-----+ Then, we need to copy the public key to the server.
Let’s create the /home/maintainer/.ssh folder for the maintainer user on the server :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 mkdir /home/maintainer/.ssh Enter the password to validate the creation of the file
Linux / MacOS Windows > ssh-copy-id -p 22123 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip Always in the PowerShell console
Let’s copy the key in the directory just created
> scp -P 22123 C:\Users\your_windows_user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip:/home/maintainer/.ssh/authorized_keys Enter the password to validate the copy of the file
2.4 Key authentication (server side) Now that we have created a new user, changed the connection port of our SSH service and transferred the public key from our local computeur to the server, we will prohibit the direct connection by password as well as the user root and rather prefer an authentication key.
Edit the SSH service configuration file
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config replace line
PermitRootLogin yes by
PermitRootLogin no then replace line
PasswordAuthentication yes by
PasswordAuthentication no and finally, uncomment the line
#PubkeyAuthentication yes by
PubkeyAuthentication yes To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
Then validate the configuration by restarting the SSH service
> sudo systemctl restart ssh You can now log in without a password, directly from your SSH key !
This document will help you install and configure a UFW firewall to secure incoming connections to your server. We will detail here the basics to customize over the tutorials available on this blog.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Installation 2. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the UFW firewall package :
> sudo apt install -y ufw 2. Configuration In our base configuration, we will disallow all incoming connections
> sudo ufw default deny incoming Then we will only allow connections to the SSH port (here port 22123)
> sudo ufw allow 22123/tcp To validate the configuration run the command :
> sudo ufw enable To check the status of your firewall :
> sudo ufw status verbose If all went well, this last command should print :
Status: active Logging: on (low) Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing), disabled (routed) New profiles: skip To Action From -- ------ ---- 22123/tcp ALLOW IN Anywhere 22123/tcp (v6) ALLOW IN Anywhere (v6)
This document will help you to install and configure Docker.
Docker is a platform that lets you design, test, and deploy applications quickly. Docker integrates software into standardized units called containers, which bring together all the elements necessary for their operation, including libraries, system tools, code and runtime environment.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more simply and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Preparing the package manager 2. Docker Engine installation 3. Docker Compose installation Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Preparing the package manager Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then let’s configure the package manager to fetch Docker properly :
> sudo apt-get -y install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release > sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg && sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg > echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null 2. Docker Engine installation > sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin To verify the installation :
> docker --version Docker version 20.10.17, build 100c701
This document will help you to install and configure the GIT code version manager.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more easily and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Summary of the tutorial 0. Prerequisite 2. Installation 3. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the necessary package for GIT :
> sudo apt-get -y install git 2. Configuration The following commands will inform GIT about the user who will manage the code repositories
> git config --global user.name "Maintainer BITGEN" > git config --global user.email tuto@bitgen.com
Staking and masternodes are the cornerstones of the functioning of blockchains based on proof-of-stake. They are the two main vectors of passive income in the new finance of crypto-assets.
Staking / Masternodes, what is it? The masternodes A masternode is a server holding a complete copy of the blockchain and whose purpose is to provide functionalities to the protocol such as validation and securing transaction blocks.
Staking Staking, or Proof-Of-Stake, is a process that help a blockchain network to create blocks and validate transactions.
What is Proof-Of-Stake ? This complex mechanism maintains and secures the transaction protocol running through validators in the cloud called “masternodes”.
This consensus immobilizes a capital (or collateral) and *rewards with commissions the holder of the validator or the wallet with tokens of the said blockchain.
Participants thus generate new tokens passively with the rewards offered by blockchain networks for immobilizing their capital.
The collateral The best synonym for collateral is most likely caution. This is the amount of crypto-assets you choose to immobilize. We could also talk about capital.
The APR The APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is the percentage of profitability of a masternode or a staking.
This number is expressed in % and it varies from one project to another. From this percentage will simply flow the total cumulative amount of rewards over 1 year, in the crypto-asset in which you have invested.
EX: If you buy collateral of 100,000 tokens today, at 25% APR, in 1 year, you will be leading 100,000 + (25% of 100,000) = 125,000 tokens.
The rewards The rewards are different depending on the project and the method used (masternodes / stacking / lending / yield farming / …).
These vary from 4% to 50% and can evolve over time downwards or upwards in proportion to the use of said blockchain.
When the network of a crypto-asset uses a masternode, it rewards it. For example, if the reward/block is 1000 tokens and there are one hundred masternodes on the network, each masternode will earn 10 tokens. The mining speed of a block ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes.
How to choose between a masternode and staking ?
Where to start ? Before starting, you must be understood that today, to make crypto-assets work, it is necessary to maintain an IT infrastructure. This maintenance is a complex, costly and sometimes risky operation that can lead to the loss of capital!
What pays the most ? Staking Vs. Masternode The masternodes Masternodes are complete nodes, providing to the target blockchain network with all the functionality it needs to function. As a result, they generally have a higher ROI on the one hand, but on the other hand, they are also much more expensive to operate: server rental, greater number of tokens to immobilize and pro-active maintenance of the system is required !
The staking Staking requires a little less effort and investment from the participant. The ROI is usually a bit lower and the amount of required tokens is lower. No need to rent a server, just to make a few transactions from a wallet of said blockchain to a smart contract.
Here is the list of criteria to consider when choosing your investment: Your ability to administer a linux server in the cloud Your level of knowledge in blockchain technologies The time you want/can devote to this activity Your risk profile in terms of ROI (Return On Investment) Your investment capacity Traps to avoid At the time of writing, more than 12,000 different tokens are in circulation and more than 350 projects based on Proof-Of-Stake exist!
Unfortunately most of these projects are often scams (scam, ponzi, shitcoin, …) which promise you “mountains and wonders” with ROI sometimes reaching several tens of thousands of %!
But be careful! Let’s keep a little common sense! What investment today offers several tens of thousands of % return? NONE ! So you must be VERY vigilant when you choose to invest in a masternode or staking !
You absolutely must look at these essential criteria (non-exhaustive list): Which place does the token have on Coinmarketcap? (is it in the top 50, 500, 1000 or 10000?) What is its outstanding supply ? Is the generation of new tokens infinite or is it capped ? How much ROI is the masternode / staking? (usually between 4% and 50% for serious projects) What is the volume available in the exchangers? (the less volume, the more difficult it will be for you to resell your tokens) What is the technology used? Is it updated regularly? (information you can find in the “white-paper” of the project) Do we know the team behind the project? Once these questions are answered, you can be “canary”, remembering in all faith that the risk 0 does not exist and that any investment is by definition risky!
Self-host a masternode or a wallet for staking After reading this post, if you still want to embark on the adventure of hosting a masternode or your own staking wallet, you will find all the necessary information on this blog !
We provide you with all the tutorials to assist you in the proper implementation of your nodes in the following sections:
Technical implementation of masternodes Technical implementation of staking Choose a hosting service provider If, on the other hand, you don’t feel like hosting your masternode or staking yourself, you have the choice of delegating this task to a specialized service provider!
You have to be careful here too! If you are a French resident, you will need to go to a French company that has PSAN registration, that is to say that the company that will provide you with the hosting services is approved by AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers).
There are about forty companies with PSAN registration in France, only three of which provide these hosting services.
BITGEN is one of these three companies and offers you a preferential rate to take care of the entire management of your masternodes as well as your staking from A to Z ! It also offers savings accounts made up of baskets of several crypto-assets depending on your risk profile !
Use the promo code: STAKING-BLOG-2023 to enjoy 10% discount on your next purchase, valid on masternodes / staking / savings books.
To access your server’s console, you will need to open an SSH tunnel connection. It’s a secure connection that will encrypt the dialogue between your computer and your server. For this, you must have an SSH client on your local computer and configure the SSH service on your server.
Summary of the tutorial 1. First connection 2. Securing the server 2.1 Add user 2.2 Change SSH port 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) 2.4 Key authentication (server side) 1. First connection Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on keys windows + r
Enter cmd in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
> ssh root@server_ip The following message is displayed : The authenticity of host '138.68.87.113 (138.68.87.113)' can't be established. ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:RBuop6/a8DrySzRx+XSw2uhY38DKkmlrjfMY+55iGAo. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
answer yes
Warning: Permanently added '138.68.87.113' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts. The terminal now prompts you for the root password
root@138.68.87.113's password: Enter the password then confirm by pressing the enter key.
You are now connected to the terminal of your remote server! root@v2202206177897232182:~#
2. Securing the server We will now add some additional securities to your SSH connection.
2.1 Add user The first thing to do is to reduce the execution rights of your login user. The root user has full control over the system and it can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands or if you do something wrong by mistake. We are therefore going to create a new user dedicated to this connection.
Log in as root to your server and enter the following commands :
> adduser --gecos "" maintainer The --gecos option will not display questions relating to the identity of the new user (Last name, First name, Telephone number, …) Adding user `maintainer' ... Adding new group `maintainer' (1000) ... Adding new user `maintainer' (1000) with group `maintainer' ... Creating home directory `/home/maintainer' ... Copying files from `/etc/skel' ... New password: Retype new password: passwd: password updated successfully Choose your password then confirm with the enter key.
Let’s add the newly created user to the “sudoers” group to raise its execution level
> usermod -aG sudo maintainer You can now log in as user maintainer !
2.2 Change SSH port For this we will edit the configuration file of the SSH service
Connect as user maintainer to your server and enter the following commands :
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Replace line
#Port 22 by (or any other available port of your choice)
Port 22123 To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
To apply the modification :
> sudo systemctl restart ssh In the future to connect to the server you will have to enter from your local terminal :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 2.3 Create a public/private key (client side) To secure our SSH connection a little more, we are now going to create a public/private key pair to encrypt our exchanges with the server.
Linux / MacOS Windows Just open a terminal Simultaneously click on the windows + r key
Enter powershell in the field of the window that appears at the bottom left of your screen then click OK
In the terminal that appears
> start-process PowerShell -verb runas this will launch a new shell in admin mode
Enter the following command to enable the SSH service on your machine > Get-Service -Name sshd | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic then the command
> Start-Service sshd We will create a pair of public key / private key
> ssh-keygen -t RSA -C "tuto@bitgen.com" You can press enter to accept the default or specify a path and/or filename where you would like your keys to be generated.
The passphrase is optional
Generating public/private RSA key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (C:\Users\hlavi/.ssh/id_rsa): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: SHA256:mvNMWgMO+QbD9GTQuSjD556wYK63kwMp3nyZzRVftGU tuto@bitgen.com The key's randomart image is: +---[RSA 3072]----+ | .. . | | .o . E | | . ..o. . + | | +oo=. . o | | . =* o S o . | |=.. .* + . . | |=oo= .% = | | o*oo= X . | |o..+. . o | +----[SHA256]-----+ Then, we need to copy the public key to the server.
Let’s create the /home/maintainer/.ssh folder for the maintainer user on the server :
> ssh maintainer@server_ip -p 22123 mkdir /home/maintainer/.ssh Enter the password to validate the creation of the file
Linux / MacOS Windows > ssh-copy-id -p 22123 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip Always in the PowerShell console
Let’s copy the key in the directory just created
> scp -P 22123 C:\Users\your_windows_user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub maintainer@server_ip:/home/maintainer/.ssh/authorized_keys Enter the password to validate the copy of the file
2.4 Key authentication (server side) Now that we have created a new user, changed the connection port of our SSH service and transferred the public key from our local computeur to the server, we will prohibit the direct connection by password as well as the user root and rather prefer an authentication key.
Edit the SSH service configuration file
> sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config replace line
PermitRootLogin yes by
PermitRootLogin no then replace line
PasswordAuthentication yes by
PasswordAuthentication no and finally, uncomment the line
#PubkeyAuthentication yes by
PubkeyAuthentication yes To save with nano: Ctrl+x and validate with the y key then the enter key
Then validate the configuration by restarting the SSH service
> sudo systemctl restart ssh You can now log in without a password, directly from your SSH key !
This document will help you install and configure a UFW firewall to secure incoming connections to your server. We will detail here the basics to customize over the tutorials available on this blog.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Installation 2. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the UFW firewall package :
> sudo apt install -y ufw 2. Configuration In our base configuration, we will disallow all incoming connections
> sudo ufw default deny incoming Then we will only allow connections to the SSH port (here port 22123)
> sudo ufw allow 22123/tcp To validate the configuration run the command :
> sudo ufw enable To check the status of your firewall :
> sudo ufw status verbose If all went well, this last command should print :
Status: active Logging: on (low) Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing), disabled (routed) New profiles: skip To Action From -- ------ ---- 22123/tcp ALLOW IN Anywhere 22123/tcp (v6) ALLOW IN Anywhere (v6)
This document will help you to install and configure Docker.
Docker is a platform that lets you design, test, and deploy applications quickly. Docker integrates software into standardized units called containers, which bring together all the elements necessary for their operation, including libraries, system tools, code and runtime environment.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more simply and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Sommaire du tutoriel 0. Prerequisite 1. Preparing the package manager 2. Docker Engine installation 3. Docker Compose installation Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Preparing the package manager Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then let’s configure the package manager to fetch Docker properly :
> sudo apt-get -y install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release > sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg && sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg > echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null 2. Docker Engine installation > sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin To verify the installation :
> docker --version Docker version 20.10.17, build 100c701
This document will help you to install and configure the GIT code version manager.
It will help you to deploy your masternodes more easily and quickly using BITGEN code repositories.
Summary of the tutorial 0. Prerequisite 2. Installation 3. Configuration Prerequisite Before starting this tutorial, please carefully read the following prerequisites : Setup SSH connection 1. Installation Connect in SSH to the server.
Then let’s start by updating our server :
> sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo apt-get autoremove Then install the necessary package for GIT :
> sudo apt-get -y install git 2. Configuration The following commands will inform GIT about the user who will manage the code repositories
> git config --global user.name "Maintainer BITGEN" > git config --global user.email tuto@bitgen.com
