{"id":776,"slug":"is-proof-of-stake-secure","question":"Is proof of stake secure?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/is-proof-of-stake-secure","entity":{"slug":"proof-of-stake","name":"Proof of Stake","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/proof-of-stake"},"answer":{"short_answer":"Proof of stake can be secure, but its security depends on how the stake is spread among validators. On Ethereum, an attacker with 33% of the stake could stop blocks from being finalized. With more than 50%, it could censor transactions. With 66% or more, it could finalize its own version of history. Ethereum's defences include slashing, the inactivity leak, weak subjectivity checkpoints against long-range attacks, and community coordination to recover from an attack.","detailed_answer":"<p>Known weaknesses discussed in the literature include the nothing-at-stake problem and long-range attacks <span class=\"ref\">[4]</span><span class=\"ref\">[5]</span>. Critics also point to stake becoming concentrated through liquid staking providers <span class=\"ref\">[2]</span><span class=\"ref\">[5]</span>.</p>","format":"paragraph","confidence":75,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23","updated_at":"2026-09-18 16:10:23"},"sources":[{"id":161,"title":"Proof-of-stake (PoS)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:20"},{"id":208,"title":"Proof-of-stake vs proof-of-work","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/pos-vs-pow/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:01"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:18"},{"id":209,"title":"Ethereum proof-of-stake attack and defense","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/attack-and-defense/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:01"},{"id":210,"title":"Proof-of-stake Frequently Asked Questions","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/faqs","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:01"},{"id":201,"title":"Prague-Electra (Pectra)","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/pectra/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:48"},{"id":211,"title":"Ethereum Activates 'Pectra' Upgrade, Raising Max Stake to 2,048 ETH","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/05/07/ethereum-activates-pectra-upgrade-raising-max-stake-to-2048-eth","publisher":"CoinDesk","type":"news","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:03"},{"id":212,"title":"Ethereum's energy usage will soon decrease by ~99.95%","url":"https://blog.ethereum.org/2021/05/18/country-power-no-more","publisher":"Ethereum Foundation Blog","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:03"},{"id":213,"title":"Ouroboros: A Provably Secure Proof-of-Stake Blockchain Protocol (Advances in Cryptology – CRYPTO 2017, pp. 357–388, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63688-7_12)","url":"https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/ouroboros-a-provably-secure-proof-of-stake-blockchain-protocol/","publisher":"University of Edinburgh Research Explorer / Springer","type":"academic","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:04"},{"id":214,"title":"Peercoin","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peercoin","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"other","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:04"},{"id":215,"title":"Proof-of-stake — Octez & Protocol documentation","url":"https://octez.tezos.com/docs/active/proof_of_stake.html","publisher":"Tezos / Octez documentation","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:05"},{"id":216,"title":"Statement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities","url":"https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/statement-certain-protocol-staking-activities-052925","publisher":"U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-19 18:00:05"}],"published_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23"}