# Risks Just like any other investment, staking has its own risks. Every Validator bear the risks associated with participating in elections. Despite being very improbable, there is the possibility of users losing part or all of their stake either due to node malfunction or slashing - penalties incurred by validators that make mistakes when setting up or configuring nodes. There are however other Validators that have little to no control over the node; and with this in mind, Validation is programmed using the Validator Assurance feature to safeguard as much of their stake as possible. The staked funds that could not be protected are initially docked from the validator’s stake, followed by other participants. The parameter determines the amount of staked funds that validators would lose if their node malfunctions. --- # 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.venompools.com/docs/general/staking/risks.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.