How Does PoS Reduce the Barrier to Entry for Network Participation Compared to PoW?

PoS significantly lowers the barrier to entry by eliminating the need for expensive, specialized mining hardware (ASICs) and high electricity costs. Participation only requires holding and staking the native cryptocurrency, which is an economic investment rather than a capital expenditure on machinery.

This allows a broader range of users to become validators, increasing decentralization, although the minimum staking requirement can still be substantial.