The major problem with the (low) payout on Storj is that 29/54 node requirement is still too high for reliable long-term data retention.
Also, even if you live in the least-expensive electricity places in the world, residentially it will cost you more in electricity to keep those platters spinning 24/7 [than the payout].
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It is popular in the hobby cryptomining community to replace your under-desk spaceheater with a Monero mining rig (I also do this), and then only run it during wintertime (b/c it is effectively free mining, if you were already going to be running a resistive spaceheater).
Unfortunately, this cryptomining solution doesn't lend itself well to distributed-datastore cryptos because they are offline the majority of the year (i.e. files inaccessible).
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As a part-time miner since 2012... I really wanted to like Storj, but if you want to get paid to replace your spaceheater at home, mine Monero on surplus CPUs (for reference: new $500 Ryzen798003xd mines at 5.5khashes/s; obsolete i5 still gets 3.8kH/s). Storj is in bankruptcy for fiscal reasons due to its impossible logistics.
For the past several years, this annualizes to about three weeks of free winter heating (via bespoke XMR). I mine solo, but I imagine if you "pooled" it would be similar incomestream (but more reliable). I have had a year of "no winnings," but I persist with the odds to warm myself and the network.
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Half of my kilohashing runs on obsolete i5 equipment (==free-to-me, minus geektime) – Monero Foundation strives to operate with GPU- & ASIC- –resistance; processors haven't gotten that much faster (in the past decade), and a surplus i5 isn't that much slower than a new $500 Ryzen (~2/3rds hashrate).
Monero's Windows7 client still works (fully supported), so perhaps you now have a use for your dusty-old laptop?
Should you need to upgrade the hard drive (mining currently requires full-blockchain, which is ~300GB and growing), you might as well experience linux (installing UbuntuOS is easy once you've created the USBmedia).
It is definitely not worth purchasing additional equipment, with residential rates, just to mine monero. I like warm toes, and have lots of spare CPU cores.
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Reminder: this is only "free electricity" if you're offsetting RESISTIVE HEATING (i.e. not a heatpump). To actually reduce your powerbill and save the planet (the smarter choice), you should install a heatpump for wintertime heating.
This isn't a "guaranteed moneymaker," it's to heat your geeky underdesk toes – you are just making a fancier resistive spaceheater, which occassionally pays for itself.
The building is heated by heat pumps my studio is one large room in the building 60’x 30’ 25’ (20m x 10m x 8m). This would be where some oomph is needed.
Honestly, this is a perfect use-case for the old MacPros (2009-2012) – particularly with the dual Xeon configuration [†] – they are notorious for their turboprop fans and exhorbitant powerbills.
You can usually get one for free (or less, "doing them a favor") via social media. I just gave one away (because the receiver had a better use for it than my XMR mining).
Make sure you use fan-boosting software, to keep everything less than 80°C. See you on the network!
[†] A MacPro5,1 with 12 cores will hash at about half the rate of a modern AMD Ryzen7 chip, using twice the electricity – perfect for your localized toe-heater (they also have incredible airflow, with MacFanControl software; in Linux, disconnect the PCI fan [∑] and the four CPU fans will full-blast). GPU is irrelevant for monero-mining (the stock GT120 [or 57X0] is perfect for this).
[∑] it's useless – or you can disconnect CPU_B_BOOST (fan), which is even more useless (but more-difficult/dangerous: do NOT disconnect _A_)... this makes the BIOS full-blast all remaining fans
NB: Newer i5s (mid-2010s) will hash at identical rates, but use much less power [not ideal for this situation] – but they tend to not have great heatsinks so you may have to run less cores.
Also, even if you live in the least-expensive electricity places in the world, residentially it will cost you more in electricity to keep those platters spinning 24/7 [than the payout].
----
It is popular in the hobby cryptomining community to replace your under-desk spaceheater with a Monero mining rig (I also do this), and then only run it during wintertime (b/c it is effectively free mining, if you were already going to be running a resistive spaceheater).
Unfortunately, this cryptomining solution doesn't lend itself well to distributed-datastore cryptos because they are offline the majority of the year (i.e. files inaccessible).
----
As a part-time miner since 2012... I really wanted to like Storj, but if you want to get paid to replace your spaceheater at home, mine Monero on surplus CPUs (for reference: new $500 Ryzen798003xd mines at 5.5khashes/s; obsolete i5 still gets 3.8kH/s). Storj is in bankruptcy for fiscal reasons due to its impossible logistics.