What Is ‘Slashing’ in a PoS System and What Is Its Primary Purpose?

Slashing is a punitive mechanism in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocols where a validator's staked cryptocurrency is partially or entirely seized by the protocol. Its primary purpose is to enforce honest behavior by introducing a significant economic disincentive for malicious actions, such as double-signing blocks or being offline (inactivity leak).

This penalty is the core security feature that makes a 51% attack economically irrational.