By design, the Trustlines Blockchain needs validators.
Unlike ordinary Proof-of-Authority (PoA) blockchains, in the planned mPoS system, validators are anonymous.
Trustlines validators ensure the security of the Trustlines Blockchain by validating transactions and adding blocks to the Trustlines Blockchain in a round-robin fashion.
There will be up to 55 anonymous validators in the first validation period, who will earn Trustlines Coins (TLC) through transaction fees and block rewards.
Validator candidates can gain a validator slot by participating in the validator auction and consequently staking ETH on the Ethereum main chain for the time of the validation period.
A Trustlines validator is a person or entity that has won a slot in the validator auction and is part of the active validator set of the Trustlines Blockchain. Initially, the Trustlines Blockchain will have a maximum of 55 validator slots which will have one Trustlines validator per slot. The number of validators and validator slots may increase or decrease in the future according to what the Trustlines community decides. The validators have the responsibility of ensuring the security of the Trustlines Blockchain by validating transactions and adding blocks to the existing blockchain. They earn Trustlines Network Coins in form of transaction fees and block rewards in this process. Additionally, Trustlines validators monitor the Trustlines bridge to ensure Trustlines Network Token to Trustlines Network Coin transfers and decide on blockchain forks and resulting protocol changes with the rest of the Trustlines ecosystem.