# Guardians and Proof-of-Authority ### Guardians and Proof-of-Authority Ethos will initially launch with a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, with plans to transition to Proof-of-Stake in the future. Through PoA, Ethos elects network validators based on their identity or reputation rather than their staked amount. Their identity is formally vetted by the network, with the ability to cross-check the information in the public domain. These validators, called Guardians, are responsible for validating the Guardian chain and securing the network. Ethos operators on EigenLayer delegate their stake to Guardians based on their performance and reputation (note that in some cases the operator and the guardian might be the same entity). Through Ethos's Opt-In Shared Security mechanism, these Guardians opt into taking additional responsibility, securing (co-validating) multiple L1 chains. This process extends the security of restaked ETH beyond the Ethereum ecosystem. --- # 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.ethosstake.com/ethos/guardian-chain/guardians-and-proof-of-authority.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.