Staking is a public good for the Ethereum ecosystem. You can help secure the network and earn rewards in the process.
Staking is the act of depositing 32ETH to activate validator software. As a validator you’ll be responsible for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new blocks to the blockchain. This will keep Ethereum secure for everyone and earn you new ETH in the process. This process, known as proof-of-stake, is being introduced by the the Beacon Chain —> ethereum.org/en/eth2/beacon-chain
Rewards
Rewards are given for actions that help the network reach consensus. You'll get rewards for batching transactions into a new block or checking the work of other validators because that's what keeps the chain running securely.
Risks
Although you can earn rewards for doing work that benefits the network, you can lose ETH for malicious actions, going offline, and failing to validate.
Requirements
You'll need 32ETH to become a full validator or some ETH to join a staking pool. You'll also need to run an 'Eth1' or mainnet client. The launchpad will walk you through the process and hardware requirements. Alternatively, you can use a backend API —> ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/apis/backen..