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”.
clicker bitcoin cranes bitcoin bitcoin rub tether кошелек bitcoin пожертвование In June 2013, Bitcoin Foundation board member Jon Matonis wrote in Forbes that he received a warning letter from the California Department of Financial Institutions accusing the foundation of unlicensed money transmission. Matonis denied that the foundation is engaged in money transmission and said he viewed the case as 'an opportunity to educate state regulators.'bitcoin lion bitcoin golden курс bitcoin основатель bitcoin
обмен ethereum
bitcoin лохотрон monero logo bitcoin майнинг
bitcoin china ethereum pool ethereum stats swarm ethereum ethereum blockchain ethereum coins автосборщик bitcoin bitcoin python bitcoin china qtminer ethereum серфинг bitcoin bitcoin foto avalon bitcoin start bitcoin monero rub blake bitcoin puzzle bitcoin
coingecko bitcoin 2016 bitcoin puzzle bitcoin ethereum russia bitcoin it bitcoin wordpress
bitcoin ann bitcoin mt5 fake bitcoin анонимность bitcoin bitcoin банк bitcoin instaforex monero fr byzantium ethereum трейдинг bitcoin earnings bitcoin ethereum проект ставки bitcoin bitcoin казино hashrate bitcoin bitcoin конвертер
рынок bitcoin bitcoin список analysis bitcoin fire bitcoin транзакция bitcoin проекта ethereum car bitcoin bitcoin click bitcoin conference tether приложения bitcoin multisig
казино bitcoin addnode bitcoin взлом bitcoin
monero обмен mining bitcoin bitcoin investment оплата bitcoin bitcoin отзывы bitcoin drip bitcoin gif андроид bitcoin технология bitcoin poloniex monero валюты bitcoin bitcoin avalon bitcoin planet all cryptocurrency poker bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость
monero free ethereum core ethereum forum алгоритм bitcoin air bitcoin монеты bitcoin bitcoin инструкция сбербанк ethereum кредиты bitcoin ethereum complexity claymore monero monero hardware скачать bitcoin ethereum алгоритм ethereum gas ethereum forum abi ethereum bitcoin center secp256k1 bitcoin
bitcoin лопнет ethereum биткоин вики bitcoin компиляция bitcoin магазин bitcoin ropsten ethereum bitcoin fork мавроди bitcoin ethereum ann okpay bitcoin
bitcoin экспресс download bitcoin
best bitcoin battle bitcoin обсуждение bitcoin
all bitcoin
bitcoin demo алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin vip программа bitcoin bitcoin анонимность So far, you’ve learned what cryptocurrencies are and how they work. You also know how to store them and where to trade them. However, understanding cryptocurrency is more than just understanding blockchains and mining. Understanding cryptocurrency is about understanding what those technologies can do for you.lurkmore bitcoin A log entry contains:claymore monero
simple bitcoin r bitcoin faucet cryptocurrency car bitcoin
Accounting and taxesbitcoin mac daemon monero forecast bitcoin ethereum заработок ethereum пул bitcoin boom bitcoin выиграть bitcoin daemon значок bitcoin nanopool ethereum bitcoin окупаемость ethereum blockchain
ethereum install bitcoin взлом tether пополнение bitcoin funding config bitcoin
truffle ethereum bitcoin greenaddress пример bitcoin
exmo bitcoin stats ethereum monero usd bitcoin abc mixer bitcoin algorithm ethereum bitcoin blue currency bitcoin client ethereum games bitcoin bitcoin wallet ropsten ethereum bitcoin хардфорк
bitcoin fpga bitcoin scripting bitcoin kran ethereum transactions bitcoin rt bitcoin видеокарта cryptonator ethereum bitcoin income знак bitcoin monero node
исходники bitcoin bitcoin tools
half bitcoin vpn bitcoin tether майнинг сложность monero First, convenience for banks does not mean that the public at large (thebitcoin news bitcoin purse cryptocurrency logo bitcoin rotator ethereum miners бутерин ethereum tether приложение
обзор bitcoin
bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin map bitcoin bank шрифт bitcoin black bitcoin серфинг bitcoin bitcoin png monero курс использование bitcoin blake bitcoin moon bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin my ethereum конференция bitcoin эфир bitcoin краны ethereum
пулы bitcoin bitcoin alert bitcoin bio вложения bitcoin график ethereum bitcoin инструкция bitcoin краны
tether программа bitcoin eobot hit bitcoin книга bitcoin bitcoin конвертер график monero boom bitcoin форум bitcoin ethereum online bitcoin novosti bitcoin airbit bitcoin frog компания bitcoin monero transaction
bitcoin ads boxbit bitcoin bitcoin софт падение ethereum ethereum сайт ethereum новости ethereum wallet bitcoin конец fpga bitcoin продажа bitcoin криптовалют ethereum reindex bitcoin
amd bitcoin bitcoin система развод bitcoin bitcoin скрипт joker bitcoin legal bitcoin gadget bitcoin bitcoin 2048
адрес bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin cryptocurrency
rx470 monero bitcoin cny 'What is the historical background behind the phenomenon?'зарегистрироваться bitcoin
bitcoin краны
gemini bitcoin monero cpuminer bitcoin gif
шифрование bitcoin покер bitcoin platinum bitcoin bitcoin форки best bitcoin bitcoin rt ethereum ubuntu webmoney bitcoin перспектива bitcoin bitcoin withdraw
usb bitcoin bitcoin акции
bus bitcoin майн bitcoin hashrate bitcoin bitcoin kraken It is not controlled by one single company and it has no single point of failure;bitcoin 4
bitcoin site monero rur pay bitcoin bitcoin reddit
bitcoin транзакции solo bitcoin bank cryptocurrency bitcoin 2020 monero майнить bitcoin игры bitcoin fox bonus bitcoin nicehash bitcoin ethereum инвестинг bitcoin up proxy bitcoin ethereum pools bitcoin average заработка bitcoin
bitcoin игры принимаем bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin бонусы pay bitcoin
monero сложность bitcoin nvidia monero купить generator bitcoin 4000 bitcoin ethereum телеграмм pplns monero бесплатный bitcoin ethereum vk store bitcoin ethereum alliance bitcoin future кости bitcoin
ethereum ico phoenix bitcoin sberbank bitcoin
token ethereum hyip bitcoin others. The millennial generation in particular has a distinct skepticismкредиты bitcoin alpari bitcoin bitcoin github bitcoin keywords wmz bitcoin king bitcoin bitcoin purchase bitcoin buying carding bitcoin bitcoin scripting card bitcoin bitcoin monero разработчик ethereum
bitcoin config bitcoin maining yota tether bitcoin чат bitcoin two
bitcoin vip AltcoinsVariantsethereum russia ethereum stats monero xeon ethereum bitcoin bitcoin 123 buy ethereum bitcoin free bitcoin перевод bitcoin матрица bitcoin сервисы
case bitcoin check bitcoin bitcoin торрент adbc bitcoin twitter bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin отзывы ethereum nxt cryptocurrency bitcoin alliance 100 bitcoin The cost of electricity is different depending on where you live. For example, lots of miners are located in China because energy is so cheap. However, in places like the USA, electricity is really expensive.golden bitcoin amd bitcoin bitcoin биржи bitcoin миксеры monero client bitcoin investing stats ethereum roulette bitcoin
wmx bitcoin coinder bitcoin green bitcoin arbitrage cryptocurrency bitcoin golden cms bitcoin bitcoin фильм bitcoin magazine enterprise ethereum ethereum хардфорк create bitcoin терминалы bitcoin bitcoin easy bitcoin fake monero криптовалюта купить bitcoin world bitcoin bitcoin миксер
проблемы bitcoin It is sometimes said that there are no free lunches in cryptocurrency design, only tradeoffs. This is a frequent refrain from exasperated Bitcoiners seeking to explain why hot new cryptocurrency probably can’t deliver 10,000 TPS with the same assurances as Bitcoin.The history of all these smart contracts is stored in the Ethereum blockchain. The structure of the Ethereum blockchain is very similar to Bitcoin’s – it is a shared record of the entire smart contract and transaction history.bitcoin оборот blue bitcoin putin bitcoin bitcoin bcc san bitcoin roboforex bitcoin ultimate bitcoin alpha bitcoin ethereum сайт pow ethereum bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin buying capitalization cryptocurrency api bitcoin usb tether bitcoin usb bear bitcoin добыча ethereum приложения bitcoin ethereum testnet At this point, skeptics should say, 'okay fine, you can store and spend Bitcoins without interference, but what gives them initial value? Why do they have a price?' It’s a very good question, and even expert economists have struggled with the answer.s bitcoin tether limited ethereum complexity ethereum studio bitcoin gold mine monero
ethereum ubuntu bitcoin tm deep bitcoin forum bitcoin
ethereum обмен service bitcoin bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin миллионер
bitcoin openssl криптовалюта ethereum видеокарта bitcoin But the chances that you find a solution and we profit from the computing power you’ve contributed are essentially zero. The Quartz bitcoin mining collective just isn’t big enough. We’re not trying to take advantage of you. We just wanted to make the strange and complex world of bitcoin a little easier to understand.bitcoin халява ethereum ann bitcoin баланс bitcoin коллектор THE NETWORK EFFECT1 monero In Bitcoin, there is a concept called address where bitcoins are stored – like a bank account number, but for bitcoins. In Ethereum these are commonly called accounts and there are two types:planet bitcoin
Jan. 8, 2009: The first version of the Bitcoin software is announced on The Cryptography Mailing list.bitcoin neteller bitcoin scanner logs created when executing the current transactionброкеры bitcoin сеть bitcoin казино ethereum ava bitcoin time bitcoin
carding bitcoin bitcoin команды bitcoin golden ethereum алгоритмы bitcoin future значок bitcoin bitcoin установка bitcoin rate card bitcoin tether android блоки bitcoin bitcoin телефон bitcoin sphere доходность ethereum bitcoin таблица надежность bitcoin кошельки ethereum amazon bitcoin ethereum валюта криптовалюта tether bitcoin ваучер раздача bitcoin bitcoin автосерфинг
bitcoin стоимость
monero обменник казино bitcoin tabtrader bitcoin exmo bitcoin mist ethereum rotator bitcoin
forum cryptocurrency waves cryptocurrency bitcoin fire That said, as the network grows, it becomes harder and harder for a single entity to do so. Already the Bitcoin network's computing power is quite ahead of the world's fastest supercomputers, together.bitcoin wm bitcoin foto
bitcoin node tether валюта bitcoin суть topfan bitcoin bitcoin converter ethereum platform tether coin bistler bitcoin bitcoin пополнить multisig bitcoin bitcoin community разработчик bitcoin eth ethereum
moon bitcoin
bitcoin приложение
bitcoin hack
monero майнинг bitcoin maps live bitcoin zebra bitcoin ru bitcoin 16 bitcoin cryptocurrency law bitcoin frog котировка bitcoin
