What if a financial system could run itself not by burning electricity, but by rewarding good behavior? That's the promise of staking

That's the promise of staking, a mechanism that powers many modern blockchains by turning users into network operators.

What if financial systems could run themselves not by burning electricity, but by rewarding good behavior? The promise of financial systems that are both decentralized and self-sufficient has been a subject of fascination for economists and technologists alike.

As crypto technology advances, we're beginning to see the emergence of such systems, powered by novel mechanisms like staking. This week on The Clear Crypto Podcast, we delve into the fabric of blockchain technology with StarkWare's Noam Nisan.

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This week's episode is filled with insightful discussions on the essence of staking and its role in the broader ecosystem.

Joining the hosts, Gareth Jenkinson and Nathan Jeffay, is Noam Nisan, principal researcher at StarkWare and a renowned computer scientist with experience at Google and Princeton. Together, they explore the trustless engine at the heart of crypto and how it keeps itself in check.

"We have this general system with operators ... and the question is, why would they want to do that? The system, the protocol, incentivizes them to actually run the system. So it can give them tokens for operating the system," Nisan explained.

This, he adds, provides two layers of security: one based on computer science and the other based on economic disincentives for bad actors.

"If a majority or supermajority — maybe two-thirds — of the parties of the token of the staked amount are behaving properly, and if the total staked amount is sufficiently large, then we can prove that the system acts correctly despite the possibility of some parties misbehaving."

The conversation further touches upon the classic PoW vs PoS comparison, with Jenkinson, a recognized Bitcoin BTCUSD supporter, asking Nisan if he has "any strong feelings" about one or the other.

"They have different advantages and disadvantages," Nisan responds, highlighting that PoW is more expensive but provides a "simple majority rule" for chain selection, while PoS offers lower costs but requires a "supermajority or two-thirds of the parties to be behaving properly." Both mechanisms also present trade-offs in terms of control and decentralization.

The episode also delves into the interplay of tokenomics and system design. Nisan explains how fee mechanics and inflation controls, such as Ethereum's minting curve for new tokens, are crucial for keeping the ecosystem in balance.

To hear the full conversation on The Clear Crypto Podcast, listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows!