Proof of Stake (PoS) in Decred is about locking “stake” into the blockchain in exchange for voting rights. PoS voters have a say in the governance of the project and they receive a share of the block reward.
You can “buy” voting tickets to participate in the PoS process. The price of each ticket is locked in the network until the ticket is called to vote. When a block is created, 5 tickets are chosen at random from the ticket database to vote.
For a thorough explanation, read this page of the documentation.
Start with PoS voting
We strongly recommend new users to use a voting service provider (VSP). Unless you are able to keep wallets online 24/7 for a longer period of time, it is wise to use a VSP. The process of buying tickets is much easier when you use VSP.
Simply follow the PoS Guide
VSPs are only used to delegate voting power. The operator cannot steal your funds, the locked ticket price will remain in your wallet. There is an updated list of providers that have been audited by the Decred developers.
How to pick a VSP?
Important factors to consider when picking a VSP: security, support channels, proportion of the network, current fee.
Security: which kind of measures do they take to prevent downtime? Is the VSP software hosted on different machines and spread across different continents?
Support: how do they respond to issues? Do they have dedicated communication channels for troubleshooting?
Network proportion: it is important to keep the network decentralized. For this reason, VSP that have less than 5% of network votes are the best choice.
Fee: pick a service that charges reasonable fees. Operators make a significant investment to host the VSP software. Paying 3% of your reward to support the upkeep of the VSP is totally reasonable.
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