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What is the difference between proof of stake and proof of work?

Published Sep 18, 2026Updated Sep 19, 2026Last verified Sep 18, 2026Requests recorded in this site’s own server logs, with the crawler identity checked by reverse DNS or IP range.Meta32Google27OpenAI25Anthropic5Ahrefs2Parallel2Apple1Microsoft1Perplexity1First collected Sep 18, 2026Recent requestsGoogleNov 1, 2026AhrefsOct 30, 2026MicrosoftOct 15, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 12, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 12, 2026AhrefsOct 9, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 9, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 9, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 4, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 3, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 3, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 3, 2026
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Quick 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.

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Answer

ethereum.org estimates a 51% attack is about 20 times cheaper on proof of work than on proof of stake [2]. It gives the energy reduction as about 99.95% on one page [3] and about 99.98% on another [2].

Sources

  1. officialProof-of-stake (PoS) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
  2. officialProof-of-stake vs proof-of-work — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  3. officialThe Merge — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
  4. officialEthereum proof-of-stake attack and defense — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  5. officialProof-of-stake Frequently Asked Questions — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  6. officialPrague-Electra (Pectra) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  7. newsEthereum Activates 'Pectra' Upgrade, Raising Max Stake to 2,048 ETH — CoinDesk · accessed Oct 29, 2026 · Evidence page
  8. officialEthereum's energy usage will soon decrease by ~99.95% — Ethereum Foundation Blog · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  9. academicOuroboros: 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) — University of Edinburgh Research Explorer / Springer · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  10. otherPeercoin — Wikipedia · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
  11. officialProof-of-stake — Octez & Protocol documentation — Tezos / Octez documentation · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  12. governmentStatement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page