Why Is Acquiring 51% of Staked Tokens Generally Harder than Renting 51% of Hashrate?

Acquiring 51% of staked tokens is generally harder because it requires buying a majority of the coin's total circulating supply, which would cause immense price slippage and is highly visible. This is a massive capital outlay.

Renting 51% of hashrate is only a temporary operational expense, not a permanent capital investment. The hashrate is often fungible and readily available, while the token supply is not.