Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to support its operations—most commonly, transaction validation under a Proof of Stake (PoS) or similar consensus mechanism. In return, participants, called stakers, earn rewards such as newly issued tokens or a share of transaction fees.
By staking, users help secure the network and validate new blocks without the need for energy-intensive mining. The longer and larger the stake, the greater the participant’s influence in block selection and reward distribution.
In decentralized finance (DeFi), staking can also refer to depositing tokens into smart contracts to earn yield, governance rights, or protocol incentives, making it both a security function and an income-generating strategy.