What Is “Slashing” and How Does It Deter Malicious Behavior in PoS?

Slashing is a mechanism in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems that penalizes validators who engage in malicious or dishonest behavior, such as double-signing blocks or remaining offline when required. The penalty involves the validator losing a portion or all of their staked tokens.

This economic disincentive makes the cost of a successful attack extremely high, as an attacker attempting a 51% attack risks losing a massive amount of capital.