What is Staking?
Staking is the act of locking tokens in a Proof of Stake protocol to participate in consensus and earn rewards. Validators that misbehave can have their stake slashed, aligning economic incentives with honest behaviour.
Why Staking matters
Understanding Staking is part of building a solid mental model of how Bitcoin, blockchain and Web3 systems actually work. Concepts in the Concepts category sit at the foundation of the broader stack — get them right and the rest is far easier.
Learn this interactively
Reading the definition is a start. ZeroToBlock teaches concepts like Staking through hands-on, browser-based simulations. Build the mental model by actually using it:
- Bitcoin 101 — interactive fundamentals course
- Bitcoin Proof of Work — mining, hashing and consensus
- Browse all interactive blockchain courses
Related terms
- Proof of Stake — A consensus mechanism where validators stake capital instead of burning energy.
- Validator — A node that proposes and attests to blocks in PoS.
- Slashing — Destroying part of a validator's stake as punishment.
More concepts terms
- Decentralization — Distributing control across many independent participants.
- Atomic Swap — Trustless cross-chain trade using hash time-locked contracts.
- Bridge — A protocol that moves assets or messages between chains.
- Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) — A system that works even when some nodes lie or fail.
- Layer 1 (L1) — A base blockchain network with its own consensus.
- Layer 2 (L2) — A scaling network that settles to a Layer 1.
- Rollup — An L2 that posts transaction data to L1 for security.
- Optimistic Rollup — A rollup that assumes validity, with a fraud-proof challenge window.
Keep exploring
Continue with the full blockchain glossary — 136 terms in total — or read the developer blog and FAQ for deeper context.