Library · Crypto, word by word · Inside Ethereum
What is slashing?
Slashing is the penalty Ethereum's proof-of-stake protocol imposes on a validator that signs contradictory messages, such as two different blocks for the same slot. Part of its staked ETH is destroyed and the validator is forcibly removed from the network.
What it means for you
Slashing comes from signing conflicting messages, not from being briefly offline, which costs only small penalties. If you stake through a service, its operational mistakes can slash your stake, and the loss grows when many validators are slashed in the same period, as in a bug shared by a widely used client.
How it works
Three acts are slashable: proposing two different blocks for one slot, attesting to two candidates for the same block, and casting a 'surround' vote that tries to rewrite history. A small amount is burned at once (0.0078125 ETH for a 32 ETH validator) and a 36-day removal period begins in which the stake bleeds away. At day 18 a correlation penalty is applied, scaled by the total ETH slashed in the previous 36 days, so if two-thirds of validators were slashed together they would lose their full 32 ETH.
Sources: ethereum.org: Proof-of-stake rewards and penalties, ethereum.org: Client diversity, ethereum.org: Proof-of-stake · checked 4 October 2026
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