Can a PoS Attacker Easily Acquire 51% of the Staked Tokens on a Large Network?

Acquiring 51% of the staked tokens on a large, well-established Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network is extremely difficult and prohibitively expensive. It would require buying a majority of the network's total supply on the open market, which would cause a massive, immediate price spike, making the attack exponentially more costly.

Furthermore, an attacker who successfully acquires 51% and attempts a malicious act would immediately risk having their entire massive stake slashed, resulting in a catastrophic financial loss. The market cap itself acts as a strong defense.