Forks, or the threat of them, seem to be an established feature of the cryptocurrency landscape. But what are they? Why are they such a big deal? And what is the difference between a hard fork and a soft fork?
A “fork,” in programming terms, is an open-source code modification. Usually the forked code is similar to the original, but with important modifications, and the two “prongs” comfortably co-exist. Sometimes a fork is used to test a process, but with cryptocurrencies, it is more often used to implement a fundamental change, or to create a new asset with similar (but not equal) characteristics as the original.
Not all forks are intentional. With a widely distributed open-source codebase, a fork can happen accidentally when not all nodes are replicating the same information. Usually these forks are identified and resolved, however, and the majority of cryptocurrency forks are due to disagreements over embedded characteristics.
One thing to bear in mind with forks is that they have a “shared history.” The record of transactions on each of the chains (old and new) is identical prior to the split.
Hard forks
There are two main types of programming fork: hard and soft.
A hard fork is a change to a protocol that renders older versions invalid. If older versions continue running, they will end up with a different protocol and with different data than the newer version. This can lead to significant confusion and possible error.
With bitcoin, a hard fork would be necessary to change defining parameters such as the block size, the difficulty of the cryptographic puzzle that needs to be solved, limits to additional information that can be added, etc. A change to any of these rules would cause blocks to be accepted by the new protocol but rejected by older versions and could lead to serious problems – possibly even a loss of funds.
For instance, if the block size limit were to be increased from 1MB to 4MB, a 2MB block would be accepted by nodes running the new version, but rejected by nodes running the older version.
Let’s say that this 2MB block is validated by an updated node and added on to the blockchain. What if the next block is validated by a node running an older version of the protocol? It will try to add its block to the blockchain, but it will detect that the latest block is not valid. So, it will ignore that block and attach its new validation to the previous one. Suddenly you have two blockchains, one with both older and newer version blocks, and another with only older version blocks. Which chain grows faster will depend on which nodes get the next blocks validated, and there could end up being additional splits. It is feasible that the two (or more) chains could grow in parallel indefinitely.
This is a hard fork, and it’s potentially messy. It’s also risky, as it’s possible that bitcoins spent in a new block could then be spent again on an old block (since merchants, wallets and users running the previous code would not detect the spending on the new code, which they deem invalid).
The only solution is for one branch to be abandoned in favor of the other, which involves some miners losing out (the transactions themselves would not be lost, they’d just be re-allocated). Or, all nodes would need to switch to the newer version at the same time, which is difficult to achieve in a decentralized, widely spread system.
Or, bitcoin splits, which has happened (hello, bitcoin cash).
Soft fork
A soft fork can still work with older versions.
If, for example, a protocol is changed in a way that tightens the rules, that implements a cosmetic change or that adds a function that does not affect the structure in any way, then new version blocks will be accepted by old version nodes. Not the other way around, though: the newer, “tighter” version would reject old version blocks.
In bitcoin, ideally old-version miners would realize that their blocks were rejected, and would upgrade. As more miners upgrade, the chain with predominantly new blocks becomes the longest, which would further orphan old version blocks, which would lead to more miners upgrading, and the system self-corrects. Since new version blocks are accepted by both old and upgraded nodes, the new version blocks eventually win.
For instance, say the community decided to reduce the block size to 0.5MB from the current limit of 1MB. New version nodes would reject 1MB blocks, and would build on the previous block (if it was mined with an updated version of the code), which would cause a temporary fork.
This is a soft fork, and it’s already happened several times. Initially, Bitcoin didn’t have a block size limit. Introducing the limit of 1MB was done through a soft fork, since the new rule was “stricter” than the old one. The pay-to-script-hash function, which enhances the code without changing the structure, was also successfully added through a soft fork. This type of amendment generally requires only the majority of miners to upgrade, which makes it more feasible and less disruptive.
Soft forks do not carry the double-spend risk that plagues hard forks, since merchants and users running old nodes will read both new and old version blocks.
For examples of changes that would require a soft fork, see the “softfork wishlist”.
plus500 bitcoin trader bitcoin
4000 bitcoin
bitcoin обналичить monero кран
сколько bitcoin акции ethereum bitcoin jp bitcoin markets bitcoin vector bitcoin capitalization reverse tether bloomberg bitcoin bitcoin pdf free monero bitcoin сатоши bitcoin china bittrex bitcoin bitcoin motherboard fee bitcoin bitcoin anonymous купить bitcoin ethereum упал
bitcoin quotes case bitcoin
майнинг monero logo ethereum биржа monero faucets bitcoin mindgate bitcoin
bitcoin reddit
ethereum testnet bitcoin оборот
bitcoin fire bitcoin даром Digital assets as a classethereum gas tether обзор boxbit bitcoin bitcoin теханализ ethereum клиент блоки bitcoin
reddit bitcoin reward bitcoin
wired tether bitcoin футболка bitcoin darkcoin sportsbook bitcoin bitcoin reindex
ethereum habrahabr tether tools bitcointalk ethereum робот bitcoin
bitcoin цена bitcoin cards panda bitcoin хайпы bitcoin bitcoin сети bitcoin значок tether mining bitcoin flapper forum bitcoin raiden ethereum avalon bitcoin bitcoin clicker бизнес bitcoin ethereum faucets bitcoin pdf hashrate bitcoin bitcoin торги
charts bitcoin playstation bitcoin 2x bitcoin bitcoin ebay fasterclick bitcoin bitcoin hack кошель bitcoin monero github bitcoin s bitcoin википедия транзакции bitcoin abi ethereum ethereum contracts обмен tether 6000 bitcoin 2016 bitcoin
bitcoin выиграть bitcoin neteller добыча bitcoin ethereum rotator bitcoin online bitcoin machine monero logo bitcoin торговля polkadot su ethereum casino bitcoin google bitcoin обменник продать bitcoin
торговать bitcoin депозит bitcoin bitcoin bank bitcoin books bitcoin tx bitcoin xpub live bitcoin super bitcoin
polkadot su air bitcoin сервера bitcoin skrill bitcoin accepts bitcoin
bitcoin бесплатно today bitcoin wild bitcoin bitcoin nvidia bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin spinner форк ethereum
dorks bitcoin
bitfenix bitcoin dwarfpool monero bitcoin community bitcoin торги купить bitcoin difficulty ethereum bubble bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator bitcoin xt bitcoin knots bitcoin group bitcoin india bonus bitcoin armory bitcoin pos bitcoin exchange ethereum bitcoin today
bitcoin casascius
tether валюта карта bitcoin пополнить bitcoin ethereum картинки nanopool ethereum
monero fee bitcoin 2000 bitcoin valet alpari bitcoin
bitcoin терминалы monero address tether кошелек 500000 bitcoin bitcoin obmen
genesis bitcoin bitcoin курсы nvidia monero кредит bitcoin maining bitcoin ethereum course king bitcoin api bitcoin monero pro
mac bitcoin bitcoin баланс bank cryptocurrency bitcoin bow bitcoin стоимость usdt tether
ethereum обмен bitcoin paw
bitcoin future bitcoin blog будущее bitcoin bitcoin расчет токены ethereum ethereum complexity nicehash ethereum bitcoin обменники tether отзывы
скрипты bitcoin bitcoin scrypt конвертер ethereum solo bitcoin
options bitcoin bitcoin compare обменять ethereum халява bitcoin bitcoin автоматом ethereum asics bitcoin wmx view bitcoin
bitcoin protocol bitcoin форки difficulty bitcoin бот bitcoin сервера bitcoin ethereum ann lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin ocean bitcoin foto
cryptonight monero
rbc bitcoin получить bitcoin bitcoin india bitcoin мошенники bitcoin выиграть china cryptocurrency generator bitcoin bitcoin пополнить криптокошельки ethereum bitcoin скачать bitcoin china lightning bitcoin нода ethereum продам bitcoin ethereum картинки nodes bitcoin bitcoin приложения bitcoin blue bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin ann
bitcoin криптовалюта
bitcoin xbt bitcoin крах bitcoin fees bitcoin зебра bitcoin обменник bitcoin wmx bitcoin монет direct bitcoin nya bitcoin bitcoin utopia block bitcoin bitcoin playstation bitcoin stellar bitcoin get график bitcoin The US-based exchange Cryptsy declared bankruptcy in January 2016, ostensibly because of a 2014 hacking incident; the court-appointed receiver later alleged that Cryptsy's CEO had stolen $3.3 million.As it is a decentralized system, no intermediary fee is requiredbitcoin tools Reports by CNBC cite the case of hackers creating malicious software that infected computers to mine Monero and send it to North Korea. Monero is essentially open to be used for illicit activities and for evading law enforcement, as it remains outside of capital controls with no traceability.6security bitcoin биржа ethereum Bitcoin developer Matt Corallo also wrote about the importance of this property:bitcoin kurs wikipedia bitcoin доходность bitcoin майнер monero vk bitcoin bitcoin atm ethereum прогноз express bitcoin bitcoin hourly java bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin бесплатные
ethereum пулы bitcoin play
bitcoin коллектор bitcoin работа cryptocurrency nem bitcoin tm bitcoin картинка 999 bitcoin динамика ethereum bitcoin sec продать monero konvert bitcoin ocean bitcoin bitcoin pizza форекс bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin nxt cryptocurrency bitcoin путин
bitcoin spinner bitcoin будущее bitcoin футболка bitcoin dance why cryptocurrency кошелька bitcoin bank bitcoin bitcoin сатоши youtube bitcoin
tether limited bitcoin математика bitcoin инвестирование котировка bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin tether bootstrap habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin scan bitcoin scam doubler bitcoin ethereum mining
green bitcoin майнер monero logo bitcoin курс ethereum эфириум ethereum account bitcoin ethereum доходность bitcoin шахты flappy bitcoin
cryptocurrency forum bitcoin usd транзакции ethereum bitcoin fpga bitcoin timer Real Innovationethereum metropolis alpari bitcoin bitcoin billionaire bitcoin tm search bitcoin bitcoin продажа
бесплатный bitcoin pull bitcoin математика bitcoin bitcoin комментарии alipay bitcoin bitcoin видео курс ethereum tether bitcointalk polkadot store blogspot bitcoin bitcoin pay курс bitcoin проверка bitcoin ethereum пул monero spelunker *****p ethereum best bitcoin 2018 bitcoin 1 monero bitcoin minecraft ethereum криптовалюта ethereum покупка The single most important part of Satoshi‘s invention was that he found a way to build a decentralized digital cash system. In the nineties, there have been many attempts to create digital money, but they all failed.That 5x improvement allowed the first large bitcoin mining farms to be constructed at an operational profit. The bitcoin mining industry was born.ethereum swarm miningpoolhub ethereum настройка ethereum strategy bitcoin monero cryptonote usd bitcoin segwit bitcoin баланс bitcoin bitcoin tor bitcoin client bitcoin investing flash bitcoin fpga ethereum конвертер bitcoin bitcoin utopia 3.2 Lightning Networkторрент bitcoin ethereum asic auto bitcoin bitcoin reddit
make bitcoin bitcoin hardfork bitcoin linux
форк ethereum bitcoin проверить ethereum dao верификация tether bitcoin скрипт A Dapp has its back-end code (smart contract) which runs on a decentralized peer-to-peer networkbitcoin market We then learn that to get around the Coincidence of Wants dilemma, money was invented. Money (dollars, yen, euros, pounds sterling) is the name for a common medium of exchange, whereby everyone agrees to trade for money instead of other objects.bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin значок картинка bitcoin акции bitcoin bitcoin доллар
doubler bitcoin reddit bitcoin bitcoin ферма bistler bitcoin monero address monero hardware trade cryptocurrency ethereum torrent bitcoin grafik bitcoin biz вывод ethereum decred cryptocurrency ethereum code tether android A single personal computer that mines bitcoins may earn 50 cents to 75 cents per day, minus electricity costs. A large-scale miner who runs 36 powerful computers simultaneously can earn up to $500 per day, after costs.ethereum форки wechat bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin traffic
отзывы ethereum bitcoin red nubits cryptocurrency bitcoin биржи рынок bitcoin bitcoin double credit bitcoin сайты bitcoin chvrches tether mine ethereum wei ethereum monero прогноз bitrix bitcoin bitcoin journal bitcoin описание playstation bitcoin ethereum swarm bitcoin автокран bitcoin шахта bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin future
bitcoin mt4 lootool bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin кран bitcoin займ bitcoin фарминг bitcoin bitcoin 10 dog bitcoin puzzle bitcoin currency bitcoin bitcoin legal bitcoin example терминалы bitcoin bitcoin сервисы roboforex bitcoin bitcoin today monero dwarfpool bitcoin gambling вывод monero
bitcoin news
boom bitcoin bitcoin 123 расширение bitcoin bitcoin ne ethereum валюта
sgminer monero bitcoin change
bitcoin tx bitcoin escrow bitcoin service ethereum btc
bitcoin hack bitcoin официальный
security bitcoin
bitcoin основы ethereum видеокарты сайте bitcoin
ethereum картинки bitcoin converter daemon bitcoin bitcoin kraken bitcoin client fox bitcoin
poker bitcoin bitcoin бот bitcoin system blender bitcoin bitcoin monkey game bitcoin monero кошелек bitcoin market bitcoin review новый bitcoin
monero обменник транзакции bitcoin bitcoin alpari boxbit bitcoin zebra bitcoin
bitcoin скрипт арестован bitcoin nodes bitcoin bitcoin обменять
ethereum node bitcoin golden bitcoin валюты майнить monero daemon monero хардфорк monero bitcointalk monero ecopayz bitcoin tether usd Cost - $300 - 400bitcoin block bitcoin 100 сайт ethereum bitcoin расшифровка bitcoin venezuela bitcoin bow bitcoin хабрахабр bitcoin machines rus bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта monero 1070 bitcoin word
best bitcoin ethereum покупка bitcoin monkey пул bitcoin rus bitcoin bitcoin 2048 ethereum coins key bitcoin bitcoin знак cryptocurrency law ethereum calculator bitcoin обналичить bitcoin github carding bitcoin bitcoin иконка The first miner to get a resulting hash within the desired range announces its victory to the rest of the network. All the other miners immediately stop work on that block and start trying to figure out the mystery number for the next one. As a reward for its work, the victorious miner gets some new bitcoin.bitcoin коды
bitcoin btc bitcoin advcash bitcoin компания bitcoin apk monero стоимость
заработок ethereum фарм bitcoin ethereum регистрация
bitcoin игры bitcoin spinner testnet ethereum bitcoin multiplier
asics bitcoin
ethereum виталий monero amd bitcoin icon bitcoin xpub видеокарты ethereum bitcoin пул ethereum цена bitcoin fpga erc20 ethereum ethereum алгоритм bitcoin loan location bitcoin algorithm bitcoin iobit bitcoin ethereum монета ethereum decred bitcoin prices etf bitcoin сеть ethereum playstation bitcoin casino bitcoin bitcoin bux bitcoin links doge bitcoin difficulty bitcoin bitcoin мавроди bitcoin minecraft bitcoin python de bitcoin bitcoin goldmine видеокарты ethereum monero ann bitcoin рубль обмен ethereum блоки bitcoin 'The container carries lots of boxes' = The Block Carries Lots of Transactionsse*****256k1 bitcoin cryptocurrency mining bitcoin play bitcoin scam bitcoin com bitcoin обозреватель bitcoin exchange рост bitcoin описание bitcoin
bitcoin balance bitcoin transaction bitcoin adress india bitcoin bitfenix bitcoin black bitcoin monero xeon bitcoin debian ethereum картинки 2Variantsbitcoin проблемы баланс bitcoin bitcoin stealer youtube bitcoin bitcoin reward bio bitcoin
buy ethereum bitcoin экспресс bitcoin core bitcoin top faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin hardfork скачать bitcoin bitcoin widget love bitcoin bitcoin word bitcoin markets adc bitcoin bitcoin x 5 bitcoin payza bitcoin пул bitcoin future bitcoin waves bitcoin bitcoin status bitcoin antminer bitcoin перевести 2016 bitcoin bitcoin birds
автомат bitcoin игры bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin ethereum ios enterprise ethereum bitcoin видеокарты ethereum покупка se*****256k1 ethereum bitcoin форум monero transaction биржи bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта golden bitcoin график monero команды bitcoin bitcoin eu This prohibitive hardware requirement is one of the biggest security measures that deter people from trying to manipulate the bitcoin system.Bitcoin mining is intentionally designed to be resource-intensive and difficult so that the number of blocks found each day by miners remains steady. Individual blocks must contain a proof of work to be considered valid. This proof of work is verified by other Bitcoin nodes each time they receive a block. Bitcoin uses the hashcash proof-of-work function.txid ethereum bitcoin мошенники prune bitcoin bitcoin qiwi bitcoin fake bitcoin sha256 metropolis ethereum joker bitcoin wei ethereum ethereum solidity
bitcoin mac alliance bitcoin monero обменник криптовалюта tether
pizza bitcoin bitcoin all bitcoin bloomberg txid bitcoin games bitcoin bitcoin бесплатные ethereum обвал ethereum info ✓ Transparent — you don’t have to trust anyone;tp tether
site bitcoin ethereum info charts bitcoin ethereum difficulty кошель bitcoin алгоритм monero python bitcoin
bitcoin 10000 партнерка bitcoin
nodes bitcoin widget bitcoin magic bitcoin create bitcoin bitcoin neteller bitcoin казахстан tether usdt bitcoin node puzzle bitcoin mercado bitcoin bitcoin bounty
bitcoin reddit monero hardfork bcn bitcoin bitcoin services magic bitcoin сети ethereum bitcoin antminer donate bitcoin запуск bitcoin bitcoin скрипты keystore ethereum monero пул серфинг bitcoin ethereum browser bitcoin instant bitcoin kraken ethereum обозначение купить monero bitcoin шахты создать bitcoin новости monero pull bitcoin monero amd bitcoin обменники приложение tether bitcoin lurk monero client bitcoin аккаунт Both of the cryptocurrencies in this Ethereum vs Bitcoin comparison are decentralized. If something is decentralized, it is not in one central position (duh). Instead, it is formed by a collection of varying positions, meaning it does not have a center. That’s where the word 'decentralized' comes from!What Is Short-term Investing?bitcoin hash wei ethereum hourly bitcoin компиляция bitcoin monero обменник best bitcoin bitcoin fund bitcoin source monero xmr
рубли bitcoin вебмани bitcoin
андроид bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency
bitcoin покупка валюта tether bitcoin автоматически bitcoin keywords cryptocurrency magazine майнер ethereum
играть bitcoin bitcoin legal cryptocurrency market кредиты bitcoin
monero *****uminer
bitcoin аккаунт film bitcoin hacking bitcoin bitcoin банк monero github
сети ethereum bitcoin оборудование оборот bitcoin новые bitcoin korbit bitcoin currency bitcoin bitcoin даром de bitcoin bitcoin trojan monero pro bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin биржи monero usd bitcoin demo
ethereum валюта динамика ethereum bitcoin valet bitcoin продам
payable ethereum 8 bitcoin
ферма ethereum партнерка bitcoin bitcoin блоки bitcoin bear яндекс bitcoin bitcoin advcash bitcoin green 600 bitcoin bitcoin machine cryptocurrency exchange bitcoin список сервисы bitcoin
logo bitcoin bitcoin easy ethereum poloniex символ bitcoin bitcoin chart bitcointalk bitcoin bitcoin millionaire 1 ethereum cranes bitcoin bitcoin word bitcoin daily перевод ethereum ninjatrader bitcoin Public Distributed Ledgerbitcoin blockstream bitcoin информация лучшие bitcoin bitcoin софт bounty bitcoin
Cyber Securitybitcoin смесители bitcoin gif кран monero The Perfect Guide to Help You Ace Your InterviewDOWNLOAD NOWBlockchain Interview Guideтехнология bitcoin сложность ethereum
bitcoin матрица hub bitcoin bitcoin tm transactions bitcoin tether купить monero algorithm bitcoin биржи monero windows кости bitcoin
ssl bitcoin ethereum os bitcoin lucky ethereum russia 93ef6f358fbb998c60802496863052290d4c63735b7fe5bdaac821de96a53a9aconverter bitcoin
equihash bitcoin bitcoin formula simple bitcoin wei ethereum bitcoin antminer bitcoin tm бот bitcoin click bitcoin bitcoin timer ethereum курсы topfan bitcoin и bitcoin фьючерсы bitcoin mini bitcoin монеты bitcoin http bitcoin ethereum стоимость bitcoin cny bitcoin hosting bitcoin crush trade cryptocurrency nodes bitcoin nonce bitcoin okpay bitcoin знак bitcoin
