Proof of Stake

Ethereum no longer relies on miners competing with proof of work. After the Merge, block production moved to proof of stake, where validators put ETH at risk and participate in consensus through the consensus layer.

This separation is operationally important. Client teams can specialize, and upgrades can target either consensus behavior or execution behavior without pretending the whole stack is one giant monolith.

Proof of stake changes the security model too. Instead of burning electricity to prove commitment, validators post capital that can be rewarded for honest participation or slashed for provably harmful behavior.