How does slashing work in Tezos and why is it important to delegate only to reliable bakers like Everstake

Any digital system is vulnerable to hacking, and blockchain is no exception. In the case of staking, technical problems can lead to downtime for individual validators, which will affect the overall network performance. However, stakers delegate their tokens to validators, on which they become dependent. As a rule, if the validator is disrupted, not only it suffers, but also its delegators. The Tezos blockchain platform solved this problem by slashing, which will be discussed in today’s article.

What is slashing in Tezos?

Sometimes validators resort to malicious methods to get more rewards without using extra resources, or simply stand idle for a long time. This violates the integrity of the entire blockchain ecosystem: validators are idle, but costs remain the same. This is how most PoS blockchains work. But developers saw the drawback of this system and came up with a solution — slashing.

How does slashing work?

If the blockchain network incriminates the validator in doublebaking, that is, trying to add the same block twice, its income is cut. The system punishes the malicious baker (validator in the Tezos blockchain) by charging him a fine. And the tokens that the validator did not receive are then either burned or distributed among other network participants.

When does slashing occur?:

• Errors that threaten the security of the network and disrupt the network consensus. For example, double-baking in the Tezos network is double confirmation of the same block;
• Errors of survivability. In this case, the fine is charged if the baker was idle for a long time and missed the confirmation of several blocks. This can also lead to security breaches. In case of downtime, the validator may not only lose revenue for newly added blocks but also be completely suspended.

But the Tesoz network does not take uptime into account, and the reward is awarded only for blocks, so validators are penalized only for doublebaking. We hope that we have explained in sufficient detail how slashing works in the Tezos ecosystem. Let’s now move on to another important question, namely: why is it important to choose a reliable baker?

Why it is important to delegate only to reliable bakers

The first and most obvious reason is that your income will depend on it. In the event of long downtime, part of the reward will be lost not only to the baker himself but also to the stakers who delegated the coins to this baker. In addition, there is a risk that the validator will be eliminated altogether. In this case, the delegate may also be charged a fine and lose the reward. If you haven’t used your wallet for a long time, you will be disappointed to find out that you haven’t received rewards for all this time. You will have to manually return your funds without remuneration, but no fee will be charged.

Another reason is possible security threats. If the validator nodes will be caught for fraud attempts, everyone will be fined, including the delegates. And if the attack is successful, the delegates will suffer because of an insecure validator.

This is why it is so important to choose a reliable baker, Everstake is one of such validators. Everstake’s team of blockchain professionals has been developing solutions for several years to make staking more convenient for users, and their validators work reliably without interruptions. More information about the company can be found on its official website.

Everstake has two bakers in the Tesoz blockchain. More than 6,500 holders have delegated the bakers Everstake in the amount of 22 million tokens Tesoz (XTZ). If you are looking for a reliable baker and want to get rewards for staking without fines and delays, you can join Everstake. Our new baker’s address:

tz1aRoaRhSpRYvFdyvgWLL6TGyRoGF51wDjM

Important: delegate XTZ tokens only to the new baker, as it charges lesser fees for rewards. If you have already delegated coins to the old baker, switch to the new one as soon as possible. You can find out more about why this is important here.

We only charge a 10.9% fee for XTZ staking. Therefore, staking with us is not only safe but also profitable. More information about the Everstake baker can be found on the Tezos blockchain explorer website.

In our blog you will also find detailed guides on how to stake Tesoz (XTZ) via different cryptocurrency wallets:

How to stake Tezos (XTZ) in the Galleon Mobile wallet: a detailed guide

How to stake Tezos (XTZ) using Atomex desktop wallet: a detailed guide

How to stake Tezos using the Atomex web wallet

Tezos Staking Guide Via Exodus Mobile Wallet

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