How does slashing mechanism work for $WAL staking in @Walrus 🦭/acc
Slashing in Walrus secures WAL staking by penalizing poor storage performance.
Nodes stake WAL to join the committee and handle data slivers, with delegators adding to that stake for rewards.
Proof failures trigger slashing.
During epochs, nodes face random Proof-of-Availability challenges to prove they hold assigned slivers via Merkle proofs. Failing too many—due to downtime, lost data, or cheating—flags the node for penalties on its bonded and delegated WAL.
Slashing remains phased.
As of early 2026, full slashing activation is pending, but the mechanism burns partial stake for low performers and short-term stake churn that forces costly data migrations. This pushes delegators toward reliable nodes and burns WAL to create deflationary pressure.
Onchain enforcement ties it together.
Sui smart contracts track proofs, stake amounts, and failures, automating reward cuts or stake burns without manual intervention. Tolerating up to one-third faulty nodes aligns with BFT norms, excluding slashed nodes from future assignments.
Economic alignment prevents gaming.
Slashing rates, challenge density, and burn splits are governance-adjustable by WAL holders, ensuring long-term stakers favor high-uptime operators over risky ones.
