[mcdee]

> With staking, the biggest holders just sit there and collect coins with few operational costs.

Every holder who is staking is rewarded for staking, in proportion to their stake.

> To me it sounds like staking has a much more powerful snowball effect than mining

No, because issuance under proof of stake is much lower than that under proof of work.

The point of validating is to secure the chain, not to get rich. The more validators that are active, the lower the per-validator rewards, reducing compounding effects.