Many people tend to have a superficial understanding of PoS—staking to earn rewards, helping to enhance network security, all summarized in one sentence. But if you shift your perspective to data infrastructure like storage networks, you'll realize that dPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) is actually playing a more complex game. Nodes compete for delegation rights, ultimately vying for greater service opportunities and order volume.

Take storage protocols like Walrus as an example. The daily work of nodes isn't just issuing press releases but delivering real results: storing data, ensuring availability, responding to verification requests at any time, and maintaining stable operation even during network fluctuations. There are no empty slogans here—only hard metrics.

The problem is, storage capacity and service capability are not unlimited. For a node to scale up, it first needs to obtain two things: qualification and trust. Qualification comes from delegation rights—the votes from stakers increase your security weight; trust comes from actual performance. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: you operate steadily → continuous delegation flows in → data allocation you can handle increases → service orders and ongoing rewards rise accordingly → more funds are available to upgrade hardware and operational systems → operational quality further improves. Conversely, if performance slips, delegated funds will withdraw, order volume decreases, income drops, and upgrades become unsustainable.

In this way, dPoS essentially ties network security, node economic incentives, and user service quality tightly together. It’s not just a simple copy of the PoS model but uses an economic feedback mechanism to motivate each participant to maintain and optimize their operational performance.