What is proof of stake?

Proof-of-stake is a type of consensus mechanism used by blockchain networks to achieve distributed consensus.

It requires users to stake their ETH to become a validator in the network. Validators are responsible for the same thing as miners in proof-of-work: ordering transactions and creating new blocks so that all nodes can agree on the state of the network.

Proof-of-stake comes with a number of improvements to the proof-of-work system:

• better energy efficiency – you don’t need to use lots of energy mining blocks
• lower barriers to entry, reduced hardware requirements – you don’t need elite hardware to stand a chance of creating new blocks
• stronger immunity to centralization – proof-of-stake should lead to more nodes in the network
• stronger support for shard chains – a key upgrade in scaling the Ethereum network