# Staking and Rewards ### **Staking** The staking mechanism is a critical component of any DePIN because it incentivizes good behavior and penalizes bad behavior. It ensures that participants are aligned with the platform's objectives and motivated to provide optimal services. New node operators are required to stake $ATH before they can contribute resources to a Container. If a node operator is found deviating from quality control standards or disrupting the network, it’s at risk of having its stake slashed. ### **Rewards** Containers are rewarded in two different ways: * **Readiness** - Containers receive compensation for maintaining a state of high readiness and for providing standby services, e.g., PoC reward.  * **Service** - Additional rewards are given for the compute resources actively used by the end user, e.g., PoD and Service Fee rewards. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.aethir.com/aethir-network/the-container/staking-and-rewards.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.