The world of cryptocurrencies has grown extremely rapidly since 2009 when Bitcoin was first invented. What began as an experiment in digital money became a global monetary system with billions of dollars involved. At the center of the system is the process of confirming transactions and protecting networks. Previously, this has been achieved through Proof of Work (PoW), a system that has been associated with crypto mining, whereby miners would solve computational puzzles to add blocks to the blockchain. But one other newer and more popular alternative, Proof of Stake (PoS), is turning out to be more energy-efficient as well as scalable. But what exactly is Proof of Stake, and why does it matter to the future of cryptocurrency?