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”.
Example: 0x704adf6138D85C29B4989ab48Dad7316fa7eA924948a7413f0a142fd40d49347Timing the purchase with the hardware cycle.monero amd Should You Invest in Bitcoin?развод bitcoin joker bitcoin
bonus bitcoin
курс tether краны monero air bitcoin monero amd bitcoin jp wired tether maps bitcoin 123 bitcoin bitcoin котировки bitcoin форумы bcc bitcoin bitcoin get tether plugin курс bitcoin
3Initial coin offeringsbitcoin node bitcoin zona case bitcoin ethereum токены 10000 bitcoin dwarfpool monero
ethereum pow exchange bitcoin mining bitcoin bitcoin monkey теханализ bitcoin ethereum habrahabr frontier ethereum пул monero bitcoin hash Making smart contracts cost Gas/ETH/money stops people from activating them willy-nilly, solving problems relating to transaction spam that would happen if running smart contracts were free.bitcoin iso bitcoin смесители ethereum coins проекты bitcoin mac bitcoin ethereum пулы ethereum news bitcoin майнинг monero hardware аккаунт bitcoin bitcoin добыча платформа ethereum airbit bitcoin bitcoin greenaddress ava bitcoin bitcoin eu ethereum прибыльность coinder bitcoin earn bitcoin
bitcoin зарегистрироваться agario bitcoin bitcoin mining tether перевод preev bitcoin bitcoin people mine monero ethereum course goldsday bitcoin bitcoin people bitcoin tm bitcoin okpay pos ethereum dag ethereum rx560 monero buy tether
bitcoin цены пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin rates ethereum btc hyip bitcoin pps bitcoin This produces a hash value that should be less than the predefined target as per the proof-of-work consensus. If the hash value generated is less than the target value, then the block is considered to be verified, and the miner gets rewarded.bitcoin рухнул bitcoin hacker получение bitcoin bitcoin database search bitcoin alpari bitcoin multiplier bitcoin earn bitcoin minergate ethereum coinmarketcap bitcoin криптовалюты bitcoin
accepts bitcoin
bitcoin информация solo bitcoin sportsbook bitcoin bitcoin gift up bitcoin cryptocurrency ico ethereum pools bitcoin play ethereum com bitcoin half bitcoin paypal utxo bitcoin polkadot stingray mini bitcoin Desktop wallet examples: Electrum.org Bitcoin CoreIn the caveman era, people used the barter system, in which goods and services are exchanged among two or more people. For instance, someone might exchange seven apples for seven oranges. The barter system fell out of popular use because it had some glaring flaws:bitcoin hardfork vip bitcoin topfan bitcoin mastering bitcoin forbot bitcoin bitcoin millionaire
bitcoin json win bitcoin портал bitcoin Ars Technica reported in January 2018 that YouTube advertisements contained JavaScript code that mined the cryptocurrency Monero.Hard forkmonero
bitcoin баланс bitcoin alert калькулятор monero future bitcoin bitcoin миксеры bitcoin обвал ethereum логотип mercado bitcoin bitcoin shop bitcoin prune карты bitcoin pirates bitcoin bitcoin mmgp bitcoin обменники in bitcoin кошель bitcoin polkadot ico trading bitcoin bitcoin keys bitcoin s monero gui
ethereum логотип ethereum проблемы phoenix bitcoin bitcoin main bear bitcoin bitcoin x2 bitcoin monkey monero купить shot bitcoin ethereum контракт карты bitcoin работа bitcoin bitcoin wsj bitcoin валюта cryptocurrency arbitrage bitcoin solo bitcoin проблемы bitcoin instagram 6000 bitcoin bitcoin froggy капитализация bitcoin exchanges bitcoin bitcoin euro bitcoin рубль ethereum blockchain blogspot bitcoin casascius bitcoin chvrches tether bitcoin litecoin loco bitcoin bitcoin farm clicker bitcoin bitcoin apk
bitcoin курс polkadot блог bitcoin qiwi bitcoin vpn
wikipedia ethereum раздача bitcoin dark bitcoin вход bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency fake bitcoin wiki ethereum Cryptocurrency is also known as digital currency. It's a form of digital money created by mathematical computations and policed by millions of computers (called miners) on the same network. Physically, there's nothing to hold, although crypto can be exchanged for cash.location bitcoin ethereum course bitcoin 4096 blender bitcoin roulette bitcoin bitcoin mine bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin lurk bitcoin bitrix bitcoin mail ethereum биткоин bitcoin s equihash bitcoin 10000 bitcoin ethereum api casper ethereum dag ethereum ферма ethereum all cryptocurrency bitcoin экспресс bitcoin обозначение добыча bitcoin bitcoin info видео bitcoin bitcoin hash bitcoin global
sgminer monero bitcoin conference bitcoin генератор bitcoin bit bitcoin oil coins bitcoin bitcoin gadget bitcoin sha256 создатель bitcoin free bitcoin system bitcoin clame bitcoin metal bitcoin rotator bitcoin bitcoin работа
Supports more than 1500 coins and tokens✗ Cloud mining companies are targets for hackers. In July of 2017, Genesis Mining was hacked. Bitcoin was transferred from the company’s hot wallet to an external wallet.куплю ethereum monero сложность bitcoin create магазин bitcoin apk tether
doubler bitcoin виталик ethereum bitcoin community bitcoin com bitcoin cli bitcoin scan matteo monero фарм bitcoin
bitcoin ru bitcoin развод 1 ethereum connect bitcoin mt4 bitcoin
cryptocurrency wallet Producing a proof of work can be a random process with low probability, so that a lot of trial and error is required on average before a valid proof of work is generated. Bitcoin uses the Hashcash proof of work.сети bitcoin калькулятор ethereum майнить bitcoin виталик ethereum
bitcoin пожертвование ethereum browser баланс bitcoin bitcoin торрент mastering bitcoin
скачать bitcoin bitcoin tools bitcoin wallet bitcoin s ethereum os bitcoin daemon
Blockchain technology is often described as the backbone for a transaction layer for the internet, the foundation of the Internet of Value. Entrepreneurs in industries around the world have woken up to the implications of the development of blockchain technology, and the new and powerful digital relationships it enables. The idea that cryptographic keys and shared ledgers can incentivize users to secure and formalize digital relationships has provided the impetus for governments, IT companies, banks and others to seek new and innovative ways build this transaction layer for the internet.As stated in our guide 'What is Blockchain Technology?', there are three principal technologies that combine to create a blockchain. None of them are new. Rather, it is their orchestration and application that is new.case bitcoin bitcoin webmoney bitcoin goldmine bitcoin seed ротатор bitcoin registration bitcoin ethereum core bitcoin биткоин bitcoin вход bitcoin видеокарты монета ethereum проблемы bitcoin
index bitcoin difficulty monero nonce bitcoin ставки bitcoin github ethereum bitcoin сколько клиент ethereum bitcoin видеокарта market bitcoin token ethereum bitcoin evolution перевод tether demo bitcoin ethereum platform reddit bitcoin fx bitcoin
bitcoin rpg bitcoin check
bitcoin de gift bitcoin bitcoin вектор bitcoin краны kran bitcoin bitcoin traffic microsoft bitcoin bag bitcoin
сервисы bitcoin amazon bitcoin ставки bitcoin bitcoin qr
buying bitcoin service bitcoin адрес bitcoin bitcoin stealer
bitcoin free ethereum txid запрет bitcoin hack bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin community boxbit bitcoin best bitcoin
bitcoin alert bitcoin purse вывод bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin forbot bitcoin cryptocurrency gold
стоимость bitcoin bitcoin easy bitcoin miner tether clockworkmod bitcoin майнинга bitcoin fox комиссия bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт metatrader bitcoin arbitrage cryptocurrency rx560 monero биржа monero rigname ethereum
maps bitcoin polkadot stingray bitcoin оборот
kinolix bitcoin bitcoin oil bitcoin foundation bitcoin пирамида bitcoin rotator bye bitcoin принимаем bitcoin bitcoin отследить tether usdt claymore monero bitcoin today all cryptocurrency bitcoin обзор bitcoin цена
bitcoin cards кости bitcoin bank bitcoin bitcoin рост
bitcoin хабрахабр обналичивание bitcoin
bitcoin alien tether программа кошелек tether обменять ethereum ethereum статистика swarm ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency
ethereum доллар криптовалюта tether ethereum info инструкция bitcoin bitcoin start bitcoin книга monero address использование bitcoin яндекс bitcoin bitcoin valet bitcoin asic
bank bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin coins gambling bitcoin ad bitcoin исходники bitcoin добыча ethereum amazon bitcoin токен bitcoin bitcoin service remix ethereum миксер bitcoin ethereum charts криптовалюта tether трейдинг bitcoin reverse tether playstation bitcoin bitcoin signals ethereum заработать bitcoin links bitcoin fox ethereum os блоки bitcoin tether 2 игра ethereum carding bitcoin bitcoin loan обмен tether bitcoin ebay bitcoin coin
key bitcoin ads bitcoin bitcoin charts bitcoin инвестирование bitcoin монеты bitcoin rotators bitcoin trade ethereum addresses ethereum кошелька bitcoin poker 1 ethereum
криптокошельки ethereum bitcoin sberbank зарабатывать ethereum bitcoin мастернода картинки bitcoin coingecko ethereum картинка bitcoin bitcoin конвертер bitcoin fpga coinder bitcoin bitcoin cny кошельки bitcoin bitcoin rig 1 ethereum hd7850 monero ethereum капитализация truffle ethereum bitcointalk ethereum ethereum network bitcoin scam адрес ethereum bitcoin шахта
currency bitcoin bitcoin wiki 'Ether' is the main internal crypto-fuel of Ethereum, and is used to pay transaction fees. In general, there are two types of accounts: externally owned accounts, controlled by private keys, and contract accounts, controlled by their contract code. An externally owned account has no code, and one can send messages from an externally owned account by creating and signing a transaction; in a contract account, every time the contract account receives a message its code activates, allowing it to read and write to internal storage and send other messages or create contracts in turn.рынок bitcoin bitcoin formula bitcoin конвектор bitcoin heist
асик ethereum bitcoin fox bitcoin chart faucet bitcoin clicker bitcoin bitcoin hack bonus bitcoin
ethereum exchange bitcoin автоматически bitcoin yen
All cryptocurrencies use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to remove third parties from their systems. DLTs are shared databases where transaction information is recorded. The DLT that most cryptocurrencies use is called blockchain technology. The first blockchain was designed by Satoshi Nakamoto for Bitcoin.iso bitcoin программа tether сервисы bitcoin bitcoin coinwarz bitcoin make bitcoin charts обзор bitcoin bitcoin ru
monero новости blake bitcoin bitcoin pdf trezor ethereum bitcoin tools bitcoin компьютер bitcoin wsj cryptonight monero отзыв bitcoin bitcoin compromised bitcoin plus bitcoin мошенники проблемы bitcoin bitcoin desk mini bitcoin currency bitcoin
ферма ethereum
bitcoin half краны monero okpay bitcoin ethereum addresses ethereum web3 цена ethereum bitcoin видео bitcoin webmoney monero купить ethereum forks bitcoin обмен waves bitcoin ethereum blockchain bitcoin транзакция bitcoin legal bitcoin адрес Blockchain explained: a man purchasing something online.bitcoin mac bitcoin trader bitcoin покупка hourly bitcoin
bitcoin отслеживание взлом bitcoin
tether верификация обменники bitcoin bitcoin block bitcoin регистрация bitcoin prominer bitcoin торги bitcoin reklama electrum bitcoin
addnode bitcoin bitcoin euro bitcoin доллар bitcoin golden bitcoin bank monero dwarfpool monero вывод расшифровка bitcoin компиляция bitcoin сколько bitcoin вывод ethereum ethereum покупка сборщик bitcoin china bitcoin рост bitcoin bitcoin калькулятор ethereum токены bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin passphrase bitcoin base cryptocurrency это bitcoin казино bitcoin bat
mineable cryptocurrency statistics bitcoin
accepts bitcoin bitcoin future daily bitcoin safe bitcoin оборот bitcoin analysis bitcoin
monero address top bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin instaforex bitcoin community котировка bitcoin
mixer bitcoin bitcoin casino monero free
bitcoin банк
bitcoin переводчик bitcoin etherium bitcoin автосерфинг loans bitcoin bitcoin fees bitcoin сети bitcoin блок make bitcoin security bitcoin bitcoin обналичить краны monero
bitcoin avalon системе bitcoin bitcoin miner market bitcoin polkadot stingray tether mining майнер bitcoin bitcoin magazin bitcoin multiplier rocket bitcoin ethereum покупка
bitcoin видеокарты 22 bitcoin konvert bitcoin покупка bitcoin bitcoin обозреватель monero github bitcoin investment
cronox bitcoin bitcoin миллионеры bitcoin froggy monero proxy bitcoin шахта amazon bitcoin
mac bitcoin download bitcoin
bitcoin options валюта tether эпоха ethereum робот bitcoin бесплатно ethereum
polkadot stingray bitcoin оборот machine bitcoin ethereum майнеры bitcoin cryptocurrency the ethereum bitcoin программа wiki ethereum bitcoin yandex poker bitcoin робот bitcoin bitcoin 2016 акции ethereum ethereum котировки сложность bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта games bitcoin bitcoin etf проект bitcoin The blocks in the blockchain were originally limited to 32 megabytes in size. The block size limit of one megabyte was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2010. Eventually the block size limit of one megabyte created problems for transaction processing, such as increasing transaction fees and delayed processing of transactions. Andreas Antonopoulos has stated Lightning Network is a potential scaling solution and referred to lightning as a second layer routing network.:ch. 8bitcoin экспресс bitcoin rbc bitcoin получить
happy bitcoin ethereum акции ethereum купить checker bitcoin bitcoin sberbank bitcoin регистрации майн ethereum обменять bitcoin bitcoin пирамиды trade cryptocurrency etherium bitcoin instant bitcoin знак bitcoin вебмани bitcoin bitcoin инструкция
roboforex bitcoin
bitcoin world bitcoin видеокарты monero pro alliance bitcoin компиляция bitcoin ethereum chaindata happy bitcoin майнер bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin usd konvert bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin paper
ethereum создатель bitcoin course bitcoin boom ethereum logo bitcoin etherium
bitcoin сделки bitcoin trend bitcoin poker wmx bitcoin dorks bitcoin iso bitcoin bitcoin course ethereum addresses bitcoin stock maps bitcoin bitcoin hub bitcoin shop mixer bitcoin erc20 ethereum pool bitcoin wikipedia cryptocurrency bitcoin куплю bitcoin 2018 monero free bestchange bitcoin nanopool ethereum bitcoin cache ethereum news ethereum crane ethereum dag
bitcoin tor bitcoin компьютер bitcoin roulette bitcoin оплатить bitcoin reserve bitcoin оплатить bitcoin автосборщик prune bitcoin биржи monero
coinbase ethereum bitcoin анализ network bitcoin bitcoin paper bitcoin sha256 bitcoin казино alpha bitcoin
bitcoin hunter bitcoin crash bitcoin indonesia bitcoin проверить equihash bitcoin 1080 ethereum
galaxy bitcoin usdt tether waves cryptocurrency
ethereum биткоин hacking bitcoin обменник bitcoin bitcoin tor ethereum course дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin arbitrage polkadot store torrent bitcoin monero rur
ethereum twitter zone bitcoin bitcoin коды обмен ethereum games bitcoin avto bitcoin block ethereum
coindesk bitcoin конвертер ethereum bitcoin автоматически bitcoin multiplier wikipedia bitcoin wechat bitcoin Pseudonymous: This means that you don’t have to give any personal information to own and use cryptocurrency. There are no rules about who can own or use cryptocurrencies. It’s like posting on a website like 4chan.msigna bitcoin monero usd wechat bitcoin bitcoin мошенничество баланс bitcoin bitcoin котировка greenaddress bitcoin bitcoin минфин запуск bitcoin bitcoin exe работа bitcoin
bitcoin комиссия bitcoin work bitcoin check 