{"id":774,"slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-proof-of-stake-and-proof-of-work","question":"What is the difference between proof of stake and proof of work?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-is-the-difference-between-proof-of-stake-and-proof-of-work","entity":{"slug":"proof-of-stake","name":"Proof of Stake","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/proof-of-stake"},"answer":{"short_answer":"Proof of work secures a blockchain through computing power and electricity: miners compete to solve puzzles. Proof of stake secures it through locked-up tokens that can be destroyed if a validator cheats. This makes PoS far less energy-intensive. Ethereum estimates that its switch to PoS in September 2022 cut its energy use by about 99.95%. Ethereum also argues that attacks cost more under PoS, because an attacker's stake can be slashed. PoW hardware, by contrast, can be reused.","detailed_answer":"<p>ethereum.org estimates a 51% attack is about 20 times cheaper on proof of work than on proof of stake <span class=\"ref\">[2]</span>. It gives the energy reduction as about 99.95% on one page <span class=\"ref\">[3]</span> and about 99.98% on another <span class=\"ref\">[2]</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"}