Proof of Stake (PoS) is a consensus mechanism that relies on validators who stake their cryptocurrency to participate in the validation and verification of new transactions on the blockchain.

This approach offers an energy-efficient alternative to the Proof of Work (PoW) model, which requires extensive computational power for mining. In PoS systems, the likelihood of a validator being chosen to create a new block is proportional to the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked, incentivizing participants to hold and support the network.