The only things that are relevant here are mining and verification. PoS replaces mining, but you still need stake to verify.

> As an aside: do you run a node?

Hah is this some reference to PoW miners coming out swinging against PoS to protect their mining infrastructure investments?

1. Of course not

2. This is a great demonstration of how centralized these "decentralized" networks are; people are even worried about the PoW miner lobby.