You can purchase SPARK directly from us via the following Link. The purchase process runs through our trusted partner CoinPayments. You will receive your number of SPARK directly into your SPARK Wallet address, which you provide to us during the purchase process. This also allows you to start staking directly or run a masternode on your own.

You can buy as many Masternode Packages as you want as long as our Get SPARKS program is running. This allows you to substantially benefit from the integrated reward program and actively participate in strengthening the ecosystem.

We think that staking is an interesting venture. It all depends on your patience to let the staked funds work and be rewarded for it. Over time, the funds accumulate and become a substantial amount.

Staking requires a wallet that is constantly online. This can be local to you on a personal computer, where you simply enable staking on a synced wallet. The alternative is to run a remote VPS with a dedicated IP address at a VPS provider of your choice. The advantages of a VPS are 24/7 operation at low cost. This requires a VPS that runs Linux, an operating environment that does not automatically reboot on OS updates. A VPS effectively runs 24/7 without interruptions. When maintenance is planned in the data center, the VPS provider will inform you directly.

Note that when staking, assets are stored in the appropriate local staking wallet or on the remote VPS staking wallet (this is called a hot wallet). This also means that you have to make sure that the fees at the VPS provider are always covered, otherwise the VPS provider will stop the operation of the VPS or even delete the VPS. This means that you could also lose the assets in the VPS. You are solely responsible for the operation of the VPS. For experienced users this is absolutely feasible.

Under the wallet settings you will find the menu item "Unlock Wallet...". Open the menu item and tick the box "For anonymization, automint, and staking only". Enter your wallet password and wait a moment. At the bottom right of the wallet, the "Staking is active" icon will change to green. Done.

For the secure and operation of a remote staking wallet or the operation of a SPARK masternode, we recommend the following minimum requirements for a VPS: 1 Virtual CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 20 GB of hard disk space and a Public IP.

There are many good VPS providers. As long as the minimum requirements are met and the operation fits into your budget, a VPS is easy to start and use. As a guide you can use the following referrals to VPS providers with whom we have had good experiences:

• DigitalOcean (receive $100 credit from DigitalOcean to test the platform)
• Hetzner (receive €20 credit from Hetzner to test the platform)
• MVPS.net
• TIME4VPS
• VPSServer.com
• VULTR (receive $100 credit from VULTR to test the platform)
• Virtono

Master nodes are part of the infrastructure that keeps cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dash alive. Unlike regular nodes, master nodes do not add new transaction blocks to the blockchain. Instead, they verify new blocks and perform specific tasks in managing the blockchain. A Masternode requires an initial collateral of tokens to operate. Masternodes play a role in certain block chains, at the time of the validation of the transaction.

There are several steps involved in setting up a master node. The first of them is to acquire a certain amount of tokens called collateral. These collaterals serve as an entry ticket, they act as a guarantee. When you want to liquidate your masternode, the collaterals are released in your wallet and can be used for staking or other purposes for which the tokens are intended.

In short, here are the different steps to set up a masternode:

• Get the SPARK collateral here: Get SPARK
• Install the SPARK wallet corresponding to the masternode on your computer and sync it with the blockchain.
• Receive your acquired SPARK collateral to your local wallet.
• Create a node address in your wallet and transfer the exact amount of 5,000 SPARK to this address.
• Install your remote node by hosting it on a server in a hosting center.
• Synchronize the server with the blockchain.
• Configure your Masternode in your wallet PC and launch it.
• Receive your rewards at regular intervals.

Yes, so that you can set up the masternode safely, you can use our following video tutorial. It shows you step by step how to do it.

Yes, you can run a masternode from your wallet with the amount of collateral you need and use the rewards it generates for staking. This way you have both. If you prefer to separate masternode and staking, you can run staking wallets separately.

On a very practical level, Staking simply means storing funds in a suitable digital wallet. This basically allows anyone to perform various network functions in exchange for staking rewards. 

If a cryptocurrency you own allows staking - which now includes Ethereum (via the new ETH2 upgrade) - you can "stake" a portion of your holdings and receive a percentage reward over time. This is usually done via a staking wallet, which can be thought of as similar to an interest-bearing savings account. 

The reason your cryptocurrency earns rewards while staking is because the blockchain makes it work. Cryptocurrencies that allow staking use a consensus mechanism called Proof of Stake, which ensures that all transactions are verified and secured without an entity in the middle. Your cryptocurrency, if you choose to use it, becomes part of this process. 

The basic idea of Proof of Stake is that participants can lock coins or tokens (their "stake") and the protocol randomly assigns one of them the right to validate the next block at certain intervals. In general, the probability of being selected is proportional to the number of coins - the more coins that are locked, the higher the chances.

Proof of Stake and Staking open up opportunities for anyone who wants to participate in the consensus and governance of blockchains. Moreover, it is an extremely easy way to generate passive income by simply holding coins.

At Sparkbase, Masternode Rewards and Staking Rewards are paid out at a predefined and fixed ratio of 60% for Masternodes and 40% for Staking Wallets. This also ensures in the long term that a fair, sustainable and incentivizing mode of payment for supporting the SPARK eco-system can be guaranteed.

Encrypting your wallet is a good idea to prevent other people from using your computer to steal your money or wallet.dat file. Please do not forget the encryption password. If you lose it, you will no longer be able to access your money. Encrypting the wallet.dat file is done directly in the SPARK wallet and should be done before funds are brought in.

The most important thing with cryptocurrencies is to back up your wallet data! Always create backups at different devices so that your money is safe if someone stops your computer working or some other unpleasant event happens.

For all problems with crashing wallets or corrupted blockchains do the following:

• Close the Wallet application
• Go to your wallet directory
• Important: Back up your wallet.dat and .conf files to an external drive and keep them in a safe place.
• Remove the blocks and chainstate directories
• Start your wallet manually and the synchronization process will rebuild your blocks and chainstate directories.
• After the synchronization is complete, you should be up and running again.

SPARK uses ports 5421 and 5422, make sure your firewall only accepts these ports. If you use SSH, make sure that only your IP address can connect to the server.

It could be due to several things. Make sure your added funds have more than 21 confirmations. Make sure your wallet is unlocked for staking and that there is more than 1 active peer in your wallet (see the icons at the bottom right). If staking is working, the icon at the bottom right of the wallet will turn green.

No, because unlike Bitcoin, which is Proof Of Work (POW), SPARK is Proof Of Stake (POS). Instead of using a lot of CPU power to create new coins, new SPARK tokens are created by owning and staking them. It is similar to the interest on your savings account.