# Impawn

By [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x42baa96aa37f788d0cbe7180cc29eeaf90984805) · 2025-01-08

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Staking is a mechanism where token holders deposit tokens into a staking contract to participate in the security maintenance of the underlying protocol and earn rewards for their contributions. For the purposes of this article, this mechanism can be referred to as "original staking" because its core utility is limited to remaining idle in smart contracts, while other forms of staking provide additional utility, which will be further expanded below. The size of a validator's stake determines the likelihood that they will be selected to produce a block, and the more capital they stake, the more likely they are to be selected. Technically, anyone can participate as an independent staker, but blockchains often impose certain financial and hardware requirements on stakers, which may not be easy for the average user or token holder to achieve. For example, participating Ethereum validators need to deposit 32 ETH and come with at least 16GB RAM, a multi-core CPU, and a 1TB SSD, while Solana needs to pay 1.1 SOL per day to vote and come with at least 256GB RAM, a fast multi-core CPU, and high-speed SSD storage.

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*Originally published on [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x42baa96aa37f788d0cbe7180cc29eeaf90984805/impawn)*