Like Proof Of Authority (PoA) and Proof Of Work (PoW), Proof Of Stake is a consensus mechanism that relies on validators to front up collateral to safeguard against fraud. That’s because if any transaction on the blockchain is deemed to be invalid, anything that is staked by a trader can be lost. The more a trader chooses to put up front on a transaction of this nature, the likelier they are to be chosen by the algorithm.