The third validator period will kick off on block 6259269. That should be happening around the 22nd of March, 2021.
The auction was a success, and we now have a new validator set that consists of 35 slots. This new set will replace the old one at the block height mentioned above. All the new validators should have their nodes up and running before the fork block is reached.
There’s a quickstart script for new validators to get started with their node. Those already running a node as a part of the current validator set will only need to update their nodes. The watchtower component allows auto-updates for those that have them enabled; others will need to do a manual update. Again, all the new validators should be ready to start sealing blocks as soon as the fork takes place. If you’re not set up in time, you will lose out on block rewards, and the block times on the Trustlines Blockchain do increase.
If you’re a validator in the current set but did not acquire a slot in the third auction, we urge you to keep your node online until the fork block height has been reached.
To learn more about the third auction, check out our “Results of the Third Trustlines Validator Auction” post.