Proof of
Stake
How validators replace miners — and how locking up crypto keeps the network honest without burning enormous energy.
What Is Staking?
Staking means locking up cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to help validate transactions and produce new blocks. In exchange, you earn staking rewards — similar to earning interest in a savings account, except the yield comes from newly issued coins and transaction fees rather than a bank.
Unlike mining, staking requires no special hardware. Your economic stake is your skin in the game — the more you lock up, the more influence and earning potential you have. If you try to cheat the network, you risk losing your staked funds through a penalty called slashing.
How It Works
Lock Up Your Crypto
You deposit tokens into a staking contract on the network. Ethereum requires a minimum of 32 ETH to run your own validator, but pooled staking lets anyone participate with any amount.
Weighted Selection
The protocol runs a weighted random selection. Each validator's probability of being chosen is proportional to their stake — more staked means higher odds, but it's never a guarantee.
Validate & Attest
The chosen validator proposes a block. Other validators attest (vote to confirm) it's valid. A supermajority of stake-weighted attestations is required for a block to be finalized.
Earn Rewards
Validators earn rewards in the network's native token — a mix of block issuance and transaction fees. Rewards are proportional to stake size and uptime.
How to Stake in Wallets
Solo Staking
Run your own validator node at home. Requires 32 ETH minimum and a dedicated machine running 24/7. Highest rewards, full self-custody, but the most technically demanding.
Max RewardsLiquid Staking
Protocols like Lido (stETH) and Rocket Pool (rETH) pool funds, stake on your behalf, and issue a liquid token you can still use in DeFi. No minimum required.
No MinimumExchange Staking
Platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance handle all the technical work. Stake directly from your account — simplest option, but you share yield with the platform.
EasiestWallet Staking
Wallets like Ledger Live, MetaMask Portfolio, and Trust Wallet have built-in staking. Connect your hardware or software wallet and stake without leaving the app.
Self-CustodyApproximate Staking APY by Network
* APY figures are approximate and fluctuate based on total network stake, validator performance, and protocol parameters. Not financial advice.
How Proof of Stake Works
Transaction Broadcast
A user signs and broadcasts a transaction to the network. It enters a mempool — a waiting room where validators monitor for pending transactions to bundle into the next block.
Validator Selection
The protocol runs a weighted random algorithm. Each validator's probability of being selected as block proposer is proportional to their stake — more ETH staked means higher odds.
Block Proposal
The selected validator bundles transactions into a block proposal, signs it with their private key, and broadcasts it to the rest of the validator set for attestation.
Attestation & Finality
Other validators vote (attest) on the block. Once a supermajority (2/3+) of stake-weighted votes confirms it, the block achieves finality and is permanently added to the chain.
The key security mechanism is economic deterrence: validators put up real money as collateral. If they sign conflicting blocks or stay offline repeatedly, the protocol slashes a portion of their stake — potentially all of it. The cost of attacking the network equals the cost of acquiring and risking a controlling share of all staked coins.
Unlike Proof of Work, there is no computational puzzle to solve. The "work" is replaced by locked capital and honest participation — which is why PoS uses over 99% less energy. Validators don't need banks of GPUs or ASICs running at full tilt around the clock.
Ethereum's transition from PoW to PoS in September 2022 (dubbed "The Merge") reduced the network's energy consumption by approximately 99.95% overnight — one of the largest single reductions in energy use by any technology system in history.
Try It Live
Enter a transaction, trigger validator selection, and watch the weighted random draw in action. Adjust your stake size with the slider to see how it changes your selection probability in real time.
Major PoS Networks
These blockchains use Proof of Stake — or purpose-built variants of it — as their consensus mechanism, each with different tradeoffs in speed, security, and validator requirements.
The largest PoS network by total value locked. Ethereum switched from PoW to PoS in September 2022 via The Merge, cutting energy use by ~99.95%. Slashing enforces validator honesty.
Combines PoS with Proof of History (PoH) — a cryptographic clock that timestamps transactions before consensus, enabling 65,000+ TPS. Among the fastest blockchains in production.
Built on Ouroboros — the first peer-reviewed, provably-secure PoS protocol. Cardano uses delegation pools so any ADA holder can earn rewards without running a node. No slashing.
Uses Nominated Proof of Stake where nominators back validators with their DOT. The relay chain secures multiple parallel chains (parachains), enabling cross-chain interoperability by design.
Uses Avalanche consensus — validators repeatedly sample random subsets of peers until consensus emerges. Achieves sub-second finality and runs three interoperable chains (X, P, C-Chain).
The "Internet of Blockchains" — Cosmos uses Tendermint BFT and the IBC protocol to connect hundreds of sovereign chains. Validators participate in both security and governance votes.