- What's the difference between proposer and attester slashing?
- Proposer slashing: a validator signed TWO distinct blocks for the same slot (double-propose). The slashing-tx includes both block headers as proof. Attester slashing: a validator cast TWO conflicting attestations — either a double-vote (same target epoch, different data) OR a surround-vote (newer attestation surrounds an older one's source-target pair). The slashing-tx includes both attestation messages as proof.
- How much does a slashing cost in QRL 2.0 terms?
- Three layers of cost: (1) immediate penalty = effective_balance / MIN_SLASHING_PENALTY_QUOTIENT = 1/32 of stake (≈ 1,250 Quanta for a max-balance validator). (2) Correlation penalty at EPOCHS_PER_SLASHINGS_VECTOR / 2 = 512 epochs (~46 days) later, scaled by total slashings in the same window — minimal when slashings are rare, devastating during mass-slashing events. (3) Forced exit, after which the stake stays locked for EPOCHS_PER_SLASHINGS_VECTOR = 1024 epochs (~91 days) before it becomes withdrawable.
- Who reports a slashing and gets a reward?
- Any block proposer who includes a slashing-proof tx in their block. They receive WhistleBlowerRewardQuotient = 1/512 of the slashed validator's effective balance. That reward is split: the including proposer keeps ProposerRewardQuotient = 1/8 of it and the reporter gets the rest. On a max-balance slashing the whole reward is ≈ 78 Quanta — about 10 Quanta to the proposer and 68 Quanta to the reporter.
- Why aren't 'missed attestations' shown here?
- Missed attestations cause inactivity-leak penalties, but detecting them requires per-validator participation tracking (walking each block's `attestations[]` bitfield and mapping to committee assignments). That's a future ETL migration (036+); for now we surface only on-chain slashings, which ARE indexed via the explicit ProposerSlashing/AttesterSlashing event types.
- Why is the chain healthy if this page shows 0 slashings?
- Slashings are RARE by design — they're an absolute-last-resort penalty. A well-behaved validator-set produces zero slashings over months. An empty chart here means the network is doing its job, not that the page is broken.
- Will I get slashed for going offline?
- No. Going offline costs you missed attestation and proposal rewards — small, recoverable inactivity penalties — not a slashing. Slashing only fires for provable malicious actions: signing two blocks for one slot, or casting conflicting attestations. A validator that is simply down loses a little yield and resumes earning the moment it reconnects.
- What's the difference between a penalty and a slashing?
- A penalty is a small, recoverable deduction for missed duties — being offline, attesting late. A slashing is far more severe: a one-time burn of effective_balance / 32 (≈ 1,250 Quanta for a max-balance validator) plus a forced exit, applied only for provable double-signing or conflicting votes. This page lists slashings only; routine penalties never appear here.
- Can a slashed validator come back?
- No. A slashed validator is force-exited and its index stays permanently flagged as slashed — the protocol cannot un-slash it. Its remaining stake is locked for EPOCHS_PER_SLASHINGS_VECTOR = 1,024 epochs (~91 days) before it can be withdrawn. To validate again, the operator must deposit a fresh 40,000 Quanta under a new validator key.
- Can I lose my entire stake if I'm slashed?
- A single, isolated slashing burns about 1,250 Quanta immediately — 1/32 of a 40,000-Quanta validator, not the whole balance. The full stake is only at risk in a correlated mass-slashing: a correlation penalty applied ~46 days later scales with how much stake was slashed in the same window (ProportionalSlashingMultiplier = 3), and can approach the entire 40,000 Quanta when many validators are slashed together.
- How is slashing on QRL 2.0 different from Ethereum?
- The model is the same Casper-FFG design — proposer slashing and attester slashing, with identical double-vote and surround-vote rules. The differences are QRL-native: validators sign with post-quantum ML-DSA-87 keys instead of BLS, penalties are denominated in Quanta (not ETH), the maximum effective balance is 40,000 Quanta, and epochs run 128 slots × 60 seconds.