What is Bonding?

Bonding is a process nearly identical to staking on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network where a user locks a predefined amount of the network's underlying token or coin into a node to help the network maintain consensus. By bonding, users signify to the network that they are trusted participants that accept the rules and regulations of the network. Some consider the only difference between bonding and staking to be that "staked" coins and tokens are susceptible to penalization from the network should they act in a malicious manner, while others consider the processes to be exactly identical.