Slashing it's like a punishment in blockchain. If you participate in the network as a validator and you cheat, such as trying to trick the system or stop doing your job, they take away part of your locked money. It's a way to ensure that everyone complies with the rules and keeps the network secure.

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Slashing is a penalty mechanism implemented in blockchain networks that use Proof of Stake (PoS) or other participation-based variants (such as DPOs or NPOs). Its main objective is protect the network against malicious, negligent, or dishonest behavior by validators, who must lock (stake) a certain amount of tokens as a guarantee to participate in the consensus.

When a validator engages in activities that jeopardize the integrity or availability of the network — such as validating conflicting blocks (double signing), not being online for long periods (prolonged inactivity), or proposing invalid blocks — a penalty called Slashing, which involves the partial or total confiscation of your stake. This penalty not only acts as economic deterrence, but also as corrective mechanism which reinforces the security and resilience of the protocol.

Slashing can vary in severity depending on the network and the severity of the behavior. For example, in Ethereum 2.0 (currently Ethereum PoS), a validator can lose up to 100% of their stake if they incur certain faults such as double attestation. In other networks such as Cosmos, Polkadot or Near, slashing mechanisms are also accompanied by a temporary expulsion of the active set of validators or a reduction in your future rewards.

In addition, in some protocols, whistleblowers of malicious behavior receive rewards for detecting and reporting infractions (slasher rewards), thus encouraging community surveillance. In terms of economic design, slashing is a crucial tool within Game theory applied to blockchain security, since it aligns participants' incentives with the well-being of the network as a whole.

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