Disclaimer: This is not financial advice, but a detailed list of the best Masternodes that have significantly lowered in price since the previous bull-run.

This list is organized by price of each Masternode, from the cheapest to the most expensive Masternodes, all of which have gone down in price rather significantly recently. 

What is a Masternode?

A Masternode is a server on a decentralized cryptocurrency network; its purpose is to complete tasks for the network that a simple node is not able to accomplish. These tasks can help allow (for example) private or instant transactions on the network. Masternodes typically require a high amount of collateral to be accepted as part of the network. As a reward for their work, they typically receive a portion (%) of the block reward. The payout times vary, some Masternodes pay out once per day, others once per week, etc. If the required collateral is removed from the Masternode wallet, the Masternode will no longer be accepted by the network until properly funded.

How long does it take to setup a Masternode and what is required?

It should take about 30 minutes to set up a Masternode. You only need a Virtual Private Server (VPS) and the required amount of coins for the particular cryptocurrency masternode you are setting up. There are a variety of excellent VPS service providers available including AWS, Vultr, DigitalOcean, etc. Vultr accepts cryptocurrency as payment so you can even fund your VPS with cryptocurrency. 

Now onto the list:

#1 Monoeci

Coins required: 1,000 XMCC

Masternode worth (at time of writing): $225

ROI (annual): 54.11%

Website: https://monoeci.io/

Masternode Setup Guide: https://monoeci.io/en/tutorial-masternode-server/

About

Monoeci (XMCC) is a cryptocurrency from Monaco that is aiming to create an every-day-use digital currency with liquidity including ATMS, cards, and a wallet app for both merchants and buyers living in Monaco. They already have established ATMS in Monaco and the currency can be used to buy anything from a sushi meal to a car at a dealership. Both the circulating and total supply of the coin are very low (less than 5 million coins in circulation). I find this cryptocurrency to be extremely under-valued right now. Their marketing could be better and perhaps that is why the value of Monoeci is currently unrealized, but the team is constantly improving every aspect of their currency and overall it is impressive compared to most coins below the top 300 on CMC. Monoeci hit a high of nearly $13 /XMCC in early January 2018 and now trades at a mere 22 cents! 

#2 SmartCash

Coins required: 10,000 SMART

Masternode worth (at time of writing): $904

ROI (annual): 65.04%

Website: https://smartcash.cc/

Masternode Setup Guide: https://bit.ly/2u4ZGoM

About

SmartCash (SMART) is a community-driven cryptocurrency utilizing the Zerocash protocol and focusing on privacy and fast transaction times while aiming for merchant adoption. The decentralized effort of SmartCash is particularly interesting as it removes the idea of a core team or foundation unlike a lot of other projects. SmartCash proposes a governance model inspired by the ways ants and bees self-organize. The idea is to create a hive, where individuals can contribute to clear projects on small teams. Every holder of SMART tokens will be entitled to voting rights with 1 token = 1 vote. SmartCash in terms of price has been as high as $3.14 on January 14th 2018 and currently trades for a mere 9 cents!

#3 ALQO

Coins required: 10,000 XLQ

Masternode worth (at time of writing): $2,030

ROI (annual): 81.86%

Website: https://alqo.org/

Masternode Setup Guide: http://bit.ly/2inB8l1

About

ALQO (XLQ) is a 3rd generation cryptocurrency offering instant transactions and having a purpose of versatility. ALQO has a larger and faster block size/time over Bitcoin, roughly 40% greater. If the network detects that more and more transactions are stuck in the unconfirmed queue (mempool) it will dynamically increase the size of the subsequent blocks to handle the increase in transaction volume. ALQO price has been as high as $3.31 on January 9th 2018 and currently trades at around 20 cents!

#4 Crown 

Coins required: 10,000 CRW for Masternode 

There is also a lower alternative called Systemnode which only requires 500 CRW

Masternode worth (at time of writing): $4,952.49

ROI (annual): 19.01%

Website: http://crown.tech/

Masternode Setup Guide: https://forum.crown.tech/index.php?topic=12.0

About

Crown (CRW) is a digital currency influenced by royal European history. It was launched as Crowncoin in 2014. Crown includes capabilities of both the DASH (masternode features) and Bitcoin protocols. Users with 10,000 CRW can run the Crown program, called Thrones in server mode (or masternode), there is also a lower amount masternode type called a Systemnode which only requires 500 CRW. Crown is currently a PoW coin but has plans to migrate to PoS once the community stumps up the funding for the dev work. CRW was as high as $5.55 on January 9th 2018, and currently trades around 49 cents.

#5 PIVX

Coins required: 10,000 PIVX

Masternode worth (at time of writing): $21,000

ROI (annual): 7%

Website: http://www.pivx.org/

Masternode Setup Guide: https://pivx.org/knowledge-base/masternode-setup-guide/

About

PIVX (PIVX) is a digital currency focused on fast, private and instant transactions with low transaction fees and custom POS protocol. The goal of PIVX is to achieve a decentralized sustainable crypto currency with near instant full-time private transactions, fair governance and community intelligence. A recent feature of PIVX masternodes is the ability to fund them using a Ledger wallet making them extremely secure. PIVX price was at $14.33 on Jan 22 2018 and currently trades at a mere $2.11!

Upcoming Masternodes to Save For:

#1 TomoChain (TOMO)

TomoChain offers solutions to the scalability problem with the Ethereum blockchain in particular and with all current blockchain network in general. It is envisioned to be a network of chains that supports instant confirmation, near zero transaction fee, and smart contracts which will be an ideal solution for decentralized apps, token issuances and token integrations with businesses. 

Amount Required for Masternode:

TBT in 2019 - probably a good idea to save up for this one

#2 Loki (LOKI)

Loki is a cryptocurrency built on Monero's codebase. In addition to the privacy features of Monero, Loki also plans to provide a platform for cryptographic applications to be operated on their network. These will be called Service Node Applications (or SNApps), and according to Loki, they will run on incentivized and fully-decentralized nodes. Once a SNApp is launched, it is supposed to be unstoppable, uncensorable, and totally immune from external attacks.

Amount Required for Masternode:

TBT by the end of 2018 - according to the team it will, "probably be over 10,000 Loki required".