Dude what are Masternodes? (LVL 1)

Masternodes are around to support and secure the network, they ping traffic around and provide some unique cryptographic features, they facilitate the anomymization of funds and enable double-spend-proof transactions through lockdowns. They are vital to the smooth operation of the infrastructure and tend to be highly lucrative!

Anyone can run a Masternode providing you got the coins, reliable hardware and a rock solid internet connection, ideally you are aiming to be up 100% of the time. For your service you are rewarded in most cases quite generously as much as 45% of the blockchain reward.

Its common for Masternode owners to rely on the rewards as a regular stream of income.

Examples:

Stratis (250,000 Coins Needed) https://stratisplatform.com/2017/04/13/stratis-announces-first-master-nodes/
Dash (1,000 Coins Needed) https://dash-news.de/dashtv/#value=1000
NEM (3,000,000 Coins) https://blog.nem.io/supernodes/
PIVX (10,000 Coins Needed) https://pivxmasternode.org/
Waves (10,100 Coins Needed) https://wavesplatform.com/

Potential Earnings?

Lets take a look at a PIVX node (Last Updated: January 23, 2018, 10:40 pm UTC)

Out of your scope?

There are many cheaper options which i'll be exploring and blogging about, you can run a Masternode for under 500 dollars, not to say they are any good though but its certainly worth exploring, doing your own research and choosing a project that you believe has a genuine role to play.

Watch out for level 2!

Some great links:
https://masternodes.pro/
https://masternodes.online/