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Slashing
A penalty that removes part of a validator's staked funds for provable misbehavior.
Slashing is a penalty in proof-of-stake networks where a portion of a validator's staked funds is forcibly removed as a consequence of provable misbehavior, such as attempting to validate conflicting blocks.
Slashing is designed to make dishonest or careless validator behavior costly, giving validators a direct financial incentive to follow the network's rules correctly.
Examples
- A validator caught double-signing conflicting blocks can be slashed under many proof-of-stake designs.
- Slashing risk is one reason validator uptime and correct configuration matter to those who stake through them.