# Slashing Slashing is a penalty mechanism within the Impossible Cloud Network (ICN), designed to ensure that Hardware Providers (HPs) consistently meet network standards. If an HP violates their obligations, a portion of their locked collateral is slashed, protecting network reliability and incentivising consistent performance. ### How Slashing Works Slashing penalties are triggered by Service Downtime, detected by Hypernodes. ### Slashing Timeline Slashing operates on an era-based system. Collateral remains exposed to slashing from the moment of staking (Era E-2) until slashing has been evaluated and executed (end of Era E+1). ### Slashed Collateral Usage Slashed collateral is transferred to the Protocol Treasury. For additional details, refer to the Collateral and Delegation pages. --- # 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.icn.global/icn-economics/hardware-providers-hps/collateral/slashing.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.