Polkadot Shifts Slashing Risk to Validators in Staking Redesign

Polkadot's latest governance vote is set to shift the risk of slashing from everyday stakers to validators themselves. The referendum, which has reached 100% support in Polkadot's OpenGov system, requires every validator to lock at least 10,000 DOT as a self-stake by May 31.

This change will not only reduce the risk for nominators but also bring about faster exit times and new rewards for validators. Once enacted, nominators will become unslashable, and the unbonding period will drop from 28 days to 24-48 hours.

The shift is part of Polkadot's broader staking redesign, which includes the introduction of validator rewards tied to their self-stake. These rewards will carry a one-year vesting period and are set to be phased in by mid-June.