Bitcoin and chains · 19 / 127 · 1 min
Slashing
Stake is locked so a validator can be punished. The punishment can land on you if you delegated to them.
A penalty on the validator can land on the stake you delegated.
A worked case
A provider stakes for a crowd and runs the same setup for all of them. A penalty hits. The receipt is worth less. The provider's page still looks like a savings account. The lock was a liability.
The lock
Proof of stake asks validators to lock coins. Misbehaviour in the protocol can destroy part of that lock. That is slashing.
You delegated
If a provider stakes for you, their mistake can be your loss. The receipt you hold is a claim on that arrangement, not a coin sitting outside it.
The lock is a penalty
Ethereum's move to proof of stake locks coins with validators. The protocol can destroy part of a validator's stake for breaking its rules. That is not a fee. It is a punishment written into the protocol.
Delegation does not move the punishment onto a different planet. If your coins are in that validator's stake, the cut is in the stake. A provider's homepage does not outrank the protocol.
Read it yourself
These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.
Apply the check
Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.
The provider, from fees. The protocol, if the penalty is burned.
The protocol's slash conditions. The provider, for who they delegate to.
The penalty. An exit queue, if you cannot leave at once.
Check yourself
Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.
After this you can name who runs the validator your coins are staked with.