Validator
Also known as: Staking Node, Consensus Node, Proof of Stake Validator
An entity in Proof of Stake systems responsible for proposing and validating new blocks on the blockchain.
Validators are nodes in Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchains responsible for verifying transactions and creating new blocks. Unlike miners in Proof of Work, validators are chosen to propose or attest to blocks based on their stake (i.e., the amount of tokens they hold and lock). They earn rewards for honest behavior and can be penalized (slashed) for malicious activity or downtime. Validators are central to PoS security and decentralization, and users can delegate their tokens to trusted validators in many networks like Ethereum, Cosmos, and Polkadot.