what is proof of stake pos 
proof of stake is a blockchain consensus mechanism for processing transactions and creating new blocks a consensus mechanism is a method for validating entries into a distributed database and keeping the database secure in the case of cryptocurrency the database is called a blockchain so the consensus mechanism secures the blockchain learn more about proof of stake and how it is different from proof of work additionally find out the issues proof of stake attempts to address within the cryptocurrency industry investopedia crea taylorunderstanding proof of stake pos proof of stake reduces the computational work needed to verify blocks and transactions under proof of work hefty computing requirements kept the blockchain secure proof of stake changes the way blocks are verified using the machines of coin owners so there doesn t need to be as much computational work done the owners offer their coins as collateral called staking for the chance to validate blocks and earn rewards 1validators are selected randomly to confirm transactions and validate block information this system randomizes who gets to collect fees rather than using a competitive rewards based mechanism like proof of work 1to become a validator a coin owner must stake a specific amount of coins for instance ethereum requires 32 eth to be staked before a user can operate a node 1 blocks are validated by multiple validators and when a specific number of validators verify that the block is accurate it is finalized and closed to activate your own validator you ll need to stake 32 eth however you don t need to stake that much eth to participate in validation you can join validation pools using liquid staking which uses an erc 20 token that represents your eth 2different proof of stake mechanisms may use various methods to reach a consensus for example when ethereum introduces sharding a validator will verify the transactions and add them to a shard block which requires no more than 128 validators to form a voting committee 3 once shards are validated and a block created two thirds of the validators must agree that the transaction is valid then the block is closed 