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Is proof of stake secure?

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.Google11OpenAI7Anthropic1Yandex1First collected Sep 18, 2026Recent requestsAnthropic · unverifiedSep 21, 2026GoogleSep 21, 2026GoogleSep 21, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026GoogleSep 20, 2026OpenAISep 20, 2026OpenAISep 20, 2026OpenAISep 20, 2026
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Quick 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.

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Answer

Known weaknesses discussed in the literature include the nothing-at-stake problem and long-range attacks [4][5]. Critics also point to stake becoming concentrated through liquid staking providers [2][5].

Sources

  1. officialProof-of-stake (PoS) — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 19, 2026 · Evidence page
  2. officialProof-of-stake vs proof-of-work — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  3. officialThe Merge — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 19, 2026 · Evidence page
  4. officialEthereum proof-of-stake attack and defense — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  5. officialProof-of-stake Frequently Asked Questions — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  6. officialPrague-Electra (Pectra) — ethereum.org · accessed Sep 19, 2026 · Evidence page
  7. newsEthereum Activates 'Pectra' Upgrade, Raising Max Stake to 2,048 ETH — CoinDesk · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  8. officialEthereum's energy usage will soon decrease by ~99.95% — Ethereum Foundation Blog · accessed Sep 20, 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 Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  10. otherPeercoin — Wikipedia · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  11. officialProof-of-stake — Octez & Protocol documentation — Tezos / Octez documentation · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page
  12. governmentStatement on Certain Protocol Staking Activities — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance · accessed Sep 20, 2026 · Evidence page