The target date for full secure node deprecation is **March 11, 2024. **
ZenIP 42206 was introduced and voted on in November 2023 and the community overwhelmingly voted in favor of deprecating secure nodes and repurposing to EON forger nodes.
Users currently have the possibility to run a forger node, you don’t need to wait for the Secure Node deprecation to start! For step-by-step instructions on how to run a Forger Node, please refer to GitHub: GitHub - HorizenOfficial/compose-evm-simplified
For any questions or support, please be sure to open a support ticket on Discord
There are definitely money making opportunities for community members in this node transition.
Operating a forger node hosting system is very different than operating a node staking system.
For existing secure node staking providers, they need to run a server instance and run the zend application as well as the Zentracker application. And then they need to bill whoever they’re doing the hosting for.
This is not a trivial operation, but Other than keeping the system up and running and updated, that’s what they have to do
To run an EON forger that people can delegate to is different.
The forger needs to be set up and run, obviously, then a front end system needs to be set up to allow people to delegate to that forger by making a website and the smart contracts that go with it. Horizen labs will provide assistance with the delegation smart contracts.
Then the backend tracking and payment system needs to be set up. As far as I know this is not built into the forger delegation protocol, so the person providing the hosting has to set up a delegation tracking and payment system.
This is probably a backend database that tracks how much Zen is delegated to the Forger, is kept there for a minimum period of time, and what percentage of the earned fees need to be paid out of it. Then the payments need to be paid at the end of the period.
Members of the Horizen community have always stepped up in the past to take advantage of these types of moneymaking opportunities. This is not something usually that the horizen foundation or horizen labs would do.
What might also be helpful is for members of the community to reach out to node hosting companies, mining pools, and exchanges and ask them to set up the Zen on eon forging delegation system
thanks for the update @Manon & love the insight and thought process behind the transition process and opportunities in the ecosystem for forger nodes and incentives for network & dapp participation that could come within the ecosystem @blockops