What Is the ‘Nothing at Stake’ Problem Unique to Some PoS Systems?

The 'nothing at stake' problem arises in some pure Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems where validators have no financial incentive to choose only one chain in the event of a fork. Since validating on multiple chains costs them almost nothing, they might sign blocks on all competing forks to maximize their potential reward.

This behavior undermines the security of the consensus mechanism and makes it harder for the network to reach a single, canonical chain.

What Is the “Nothing at Stake” Problem Unique to Some Early PoS Designs?
What Is the Difference between “Soft Forks” and “Hard Forks” in Blockchain Governance?
What Is the Concept of “Nothing at Stake” and How Does PoS Attempt to Solve It?
What Is the ‘Nothing-at-Stake’ Problem in PoS?
How Is the ‘Nothing-at-Stake’ Problem Addressed in Modern PoS Protocols?
How Is the Block Reward Typically Split between PoW Miners and PoS Validators?
What Is the ‘Nothing at Stake’ Problem Unique to Proof-of-Stake?
How Does the “Nothing-at-Stake” Problem Relate to PoS and How Is It Mitigated?