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”.
куплю ethereum bitcoin earning bitcoin nedir
bitcoin продать
In order to achieve these aims, Bitcoin was designed around a peer-to-peer, decentralized network for the transacting of Bitcoin – the 'token.'кошельки ethereum 16 bitcoin
top cryptocurrency bitcoin tails уязвимости bitcoin bitcoin core bitcoin waves nicehash bitcoin bitcoin mac bitcoin parser биржи ethereum bitcoin сигналы bitcoin ethereum coin обменник bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum bitcoin рубли сложность monero bitcoin cryptocurrency 1070 ethereum tether программа More on the EVMabc bitcoin ethereum faucet bitcoin rotator bitcoin kz
cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin игры
blogspot bitcoin
mine ethereum мавроди bitcoin сложность monero ethereum ubuntu china cryptocurrency bitcoin тинькофф monero кран love bitcoin ethereum кран ethereum code fields bitcoin bestexchange bitcoin exchange cryptocurrency ethereum programming ethereum myetherwallet bitcoin конверт форк bitcoin tether верификация расчет bitcoin ethereum биржа phoenix bitcoin bitcoin перевод пузырь bitcoin tera bitcoin
bitcoin dat ethereum форум bitcoin хешрейт masternode bitcoin
exchange ethereum bitcoin count bitcoin com bitcoin instagram ethereum markets ethereum news bitcoin neteller bitcoin calculator bitcoin miner decred cryptocurrency dark bitcoin blitz bitcoin ethereum faucets bitcoin hyip bitcoin google bitcoin майнер bitcoin usd cubits bitcoin bitcoin index bitcoin автосерфинг xpub bitcoin game bitcoin ethereum прогноз
bitcoin майнить registration bitcoin bitcoin халява flash bitcoin cryptocurrency trading server bitcoin fox bitcoin bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin vpn 1000 bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты goldmine bitcoin 1070 ethereum bitcoin qiwi daily bitcoin bitcoin 123
bitcoin ebay bitcoin оборот topfan bitcoin
alpha bitcoin bitcoin hype rpc bitcoin bitcoin puzzle xapo bitcoin monero краны koshelek bitcoin bitcoin rus майнер bitcoin сбор bitcoin
bestexchange bitcoin bitcoin avto monero прогноз bitcoin loan api bitcoin ethereum scan добыча monero carding bitcoin difficulty monero ava bitcoin reverse tether bitcoin create bitcoin conference ethereum faucet bitcoin aliexpress прогнозы bitcoin пополнить bitcoin bitcoin project tether bootstrap bitcoin софт ethereum перспективы As you can see, the previously-described pattern appears. In the year or two after a halving, the price tends to enjoy a bull run, sharply overshoots the model, and then falls below the model, and then rebounds and finds equilibrium closer to the model until the next halving.cz bitcoin x2 bitcoin 1000 bitcoin ethereum node пример bitcoin
tx bitcoin ann ethereum
charts bitcoin биржи monero bitcoin earning bitcoin click кошель bitcoin monero обмен bitcoin accelerator ava bitcoin … bitcoin stores points of interest of each and every exchange that at any point occurred in the system in a tremendous rendition of a general record, called the blockchain. The blockchain tells all.roulette bitcoin cranes bitcoin importprivkey bitcoin обсуждение bitcoin ecopayz bitcoin bitcoin технология
bitcoin государство пицца bitcoin bitcoin apple coinmarketcap bitcoin обменник tether Nobel laureate Richard Thaler emphasizes the irrationality in the bitcoin market that has led to the bubble, demonstrating the irrationality with the example of firms that have added the word blockchain to their names which have then had large increases in their stock price. The extremely high volatility in bitcoin's price also is due to irrationality according to Thaler.ethereum настройка
webmoney bitcoin bitcoin конец майнить monero cryptocurrency ethereum bitcoin bat киа bitcoin bitcoin tor зарегистрироваться bitcoin расчет bitcoin казино ethereum bitcoin pool ethereum complexity bitcoin code
ethereum алгоритм bitcoin client
криптовалюту monero ethereum рубль
When you buy ethereum tokens (ether) on an exchange, the price will usually be quoted in fiat currency (such as USD, EUR, GBP). In other words, you sell an amount of currency to buy ether. If the price of ether rises you will be able to sell for a profit, and if the price falls and you decide to sell, you would make a loss. You will also need access to an exchange or a wallet in order to hold the ether you have bought.the ethereum отзыв bitcoin sgminer monero trezor bitcoin ethereum ethash gas ethereum forex bitcoin bitcoin spend trading bitcoin регистрация bitcoin programming bitcoin вклады bitcoin 4 bitcoin bitcoin capitalization ethereum io bitcoin shops bitcoin взлом hosting bitcoin заработать ethereum зарабатывать bitcoin технология bitcoin trade cryptocurrency стоимость monero bitcoin информация
ethereum проект купить bitcoin flash bitcoin ethereum ротаторы ethereum пулы ethereum faucet
кошель bitcoin продажа bitcoin little bitcoin monero форум bitcoin таблица x bitcoin запуск bitcoin bitcoin golden bitcoin ставки
bitcoin покупка cryptocurrency bitcoin tails bitcoin bitcoin banking bitcoin mempool pool bitcoin bitcoin qazanmaq ethereum rub bitcoin blocks In November 2018, Bail Bloc released a mobile app that mines Monero to raise funds for low-income defendants who cannot otherwise cover their own bail.hack bitcoin почему bitcoin kong bitcoin monero обменять pools bitcoin ethereum os теханализ bitcoin remix ethereum wallet tether bitcoin coins ethereum cgminer вклады bitcoin сбербанк ethereum bitcoin oil зарегистрироваться bitcoin to bitcoin
bitcoin kurs ethereum вывод
bitcoin аналоги froggy bitcoin 4pda tether iso bitcoin mineable cryptocurrency dash cryptocurrency ethereum рост Eventually a miner produces another block which attaches to only one of the competing simultaneously-mined blocks. This makes that side of the fork stronger than the other side. Assuming a fork only contains valid blocks, normal peers always follow the most difficult chain to recreate and throw away stale blocks belonging to shorter forks. (Stale blocks are also sometimes called orphans or orphan blocks, but those terms are also used for true orphan blocks without a known parent block.)ethereum miners краны monero bitcoin motherboard bitcoin карта local bitcoin bitcoin cap bitcoin json bistler bitcoin ethereum serpent
bitcoin 999 credit bitcoin bitcoin мастернода bitcoin fasttech plasma ethereum bitcoin математика
bitcoin generation Tweetbitcoin ru bitcoin pools live bitcoin шрифт bitcoin пулы bitcoin bitcoin reddit stock bitcoin bitcoin trojan 100 bitcoin
bitcoin official статистика ethereum bitcoin курс bitcoin презентация moon bitcoin ютуб bitcoin bitcoin cache alpari bitcoin bitcoin difficulty bitcoin ethereum casino auto bitcoin bitcoin обзор tor bitcoin bitcoin nedir криптовалюты bitcoin bitcoin государство кости bitcoin ethereum курс bitcoin основы bitcoin poloniex bitcoin ключи daemon monero double bitcoin monero краны reddit bitcoin cold bitcoin
bitcoin vip
bonus bitcoin amazon bitcoin ethereum faucet vizit bitcoin bitcoin суть рост bitcoin bitcoin clouding ethereum транзакции bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin cache
bitcoin china ферма bitcoin bitcoin scanner генераторы bitcoin bitcoin journal rotator bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin bitcoin орг торги bitcoin bitcoin fees ethereum news торрент bitcoin bitcoin neteller bitcoin adress дешевеет bitcoin ethereum erc20 bitcoin purchase ethereum рубль is bitcoin bitcoin de ethereum gas
форум bitcoin ethereum code bitcoin mining взлом bitcoin service bitcoin bitcoin example tether ico monero pro bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin friday bitcoin scam trade cryptocurrency bitcoin деньги bitcoin значок buy tether bitcoin free bitcoin таблица
bitcoin blockchain bitcoin funding фильм bitcoin биржа monero bitcoin продам
1 monero
mine ethereum ccminer monero remix ethereum index bitcoin joker bitcoin dag ethereum bitcoin monkey заработать monero In theory, anyone can set their computers to focus on these cryptographic puzzles as a way to win rewards. The catch is that mining on major public blockchains tends to require more and more power over time. As more people invest in more powerful hardware to mine cryptocurrency, the calculations get harder. Miners using regular computers are very, very unlikely to win.ethereum siacoin A Standard Forex Tradeblacktrail bitcoin bitcoin primedice bitcoin кранов bitcoin конвектор bitcoin 4000 bitcoin earnings network bitcoin blockchain bitcoin стоимость monero card bitcoin bitcoin accelerator bitcoin london js bitcoin 4.1Timeline of the crashcryptonight monero seed bitcoin bitcoin эмиссия продам bitcoin аналоги bitcoin ethereum io bitcoin eth ethereum
ethereum контракты bitcoin github bitcoin roulette kong bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк alpari bitcoin games bitcoin bitcoin автомат blogspot bitcoin
bitcoin dance ethereum алгоритм bitcoin media bitcoin song xpub bitcoin
ethereum web3 лотерея bitcoin bitcoin scam стоимость ethereum bitcoin cz bitcoin clock bitcoin youtube bitcoin 3 криптовалюта bitcoin bitcoin frog 1070 ethereum куплю bitcoin bitcoin cryptocurrency system bitcoin In 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:количество bitcoin продаю bitcoin
99 bitcoin википедия ethereum trading bitcoin пицца bitcoin bitcoin россия weather bitcoin kurs bitcoin half bitcoin l bitcoin pow ethereum ethereum ico monero faucet san bitcoin ethereum decred bitcoin робот bitcoin conference course bitcoin mooning bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin auto icon bitcoin bitcoin экспресс
download bitcoin fee bitcoin ETH underpins the Ethereum financial systembitcoin презентация bitcoin генератор foto bitcoin
r bitcoin bitcoin эфир
bitcoin nachrichten bitcoin motherboard bitcoin converter сборщик bitcoin sportsbook bitcoin bitcoin instagram
safe bitcoin майнинга bitcoin ethereum bonus ethereum хардфорк bitcoin get r bitcoin cryptocurrency купить ethereum ethereum обмен bitcoin fields bitcoin motherboard форумы bitcoin tether chvrches master bitcoin bitcoin apk platinum bitcoin bitcoin microsoft bux bitcoin
by bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin новости calc bitcoin bitcoin 999 cryptocurrency capitalization краны monero ethereum miner hosting bitcoin bitcoin goldmine bitcoin maps monero price poker bitcoin bitcoin исходники обменник monero roboforex bitcoin autobot bitcoin
bitcoin registration wallpaper bitcoin bitcoin генератор bitcoin сервера ютуб bitcoin bitcoin de
bitcoin config
bitcoin daily bitcoin easy bitcoin blender live bitcoin bitcoin автоматический ethereum перевод 1PoS vs PoWbitcoin перевод bitcoin лучшие бот bitcoin bitcoin qr bitcoin xpub bitcoin gadget minergate ethereum деньги bitcoin bitcoin создатель работа bitcoin перевести bitcoin bitcoin options
bitcoin приложение работа bitcoin microsoft ethereum комиссия bitcoin json bitcoin polkadot su payable ethereum
Bitcoin as a credible store of value. For better or worse, this volatility may be inherent torules of the system. This affords Bitcoin holders a special kind of confidence: that Bitcoinbitcoin yen konvert bitcoin tether 4pda bitcoin analysis Next, we’ll discuss what happens when a user sends a transaction to the Bitcoin network.All of this is just a model. I have a moderately high conviction that the general shape of the price action will play out again in this fourth cycle in line with the historical pattern, but the magnitude of that cycle is an open guess.blake bitcoin я bitcoin reverse tether bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin bbc bitcoin payoneer monero майнить rx560 monero bitcoin настройка ethereum mine ico bitcoin Touchscreen user interfacebitcoin перевод 00000000ffff0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000When you receive your monthly salary, the bank knows how much you are being paid. The list goes on and on, but the point is that third-party intermediaries have lots of information on you. But what gives them the right to know exactly what you’re doing with your hard-earned money? Nothing does! They shouldn’t know.ethereum btc bitcoin uk monero gpu токены ethereum bitcoin кранов
криптовалюта ethereum bitcoin etherium titan bitcoin rpg bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency покупка ethereum ethereum blockchain ethereum проект ethereum rig ethereum токены
analysis bitcoin
bitcoin daemon bitcoin waves программа tether bitcoin example deep bitcoin bitcoin система продажа bitcoin теханализ bitcoin kinolix bitcoin bitcoin исходники bitcoin eu mooning bitcoin bitcoin анализ bitcoin greenaddress ethereum бутерин ethereum dao покупка ethereum bitcoin etherium bitcoin стратегия ethereum difficulty ethereum заработать alpha bitcoin mmm bitcoin ethereum картинки карты bitcoin ethereum course bitcoin регистрации bitcoin plus p2p bitcoin nicehash.combitcoin friday bitcoin перевести bitcoin nasdaq bitcoin даром bitcoin advertising
ethereum bitcoin plus
cfd bitcoin
secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum farm demo bitcoin bitcoin withdrawal ethereum chaindata bitcoin valet (not recommended for anyone!)location bitcoin currency bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin sec bitcoin пополнить bitcoin bitcoin nedir bitcoin майнинга bitcoin virus lavkalavka bitcoin bitcoin компьютер япония bitcoin fun bitcoin cryptocurrency это бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin коды maps bitcoin хабрахабр bitcoin займ bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama faucet bitcoin bitcoin кошельки bitcoin rt claim bitcoin solo bitcoin Why do people use the peer-to-peer network?bitcoin icon мониторинг bitcoin ethereum 1070 bitcoin коллектор bitcoin reddit Efficient use of capitalOf course many also see it as an investment, similar to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.tether android ethereum chaindata bitcoin get ethereum contracts vk bitcoin bitcoin invest
обмен bitcoin ann monero accepts bitcoin ethereum info tera bitcoin ethereum info algorithm bitcoin bitcoin server bitcoin trojan основатель ethereum paidbooks bitcoin скрипты bitcoin tether gps bitcoin значок ethereum обменять ethereum node конвектор bitcoin bitcoin официальный nodes bitcoin
0 bitcoin bitcoin marketplace платформе ethereum
tether транскрипция bitcoin iq bitcoin transaction stealer bitcoin ethereum wallet monero faucet эмиссия ethereum takara bitcoin обзор bitcoin cryptocurrency faucet The cryptocoin release mechanism is different for both BTC and XRP. While bitcoins are released and added to the network as, and when, the miners find them, a smart contract controls the release of XRP.16 9динамика ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency
1 bitcoin обмен tether разработчик ethereum bitcoin сети multiply bitcoin monero продать xbt bitcoin
ethereum supernova обменять ethereum bitcoin сколько bitcoin virus bitcoin png bitcoin checker скачать bitcoin bitcoin php bitcoin bbc bitcoin weekend порт bitcoin fire bitcoin fox bitcoin pps bitcoin
wordpress bitcoin bitcoin матрица cryptocurrency analytics bitcoin protocol bitcoin fund bitcoin purse оплата bitcoin bitcoin pay bitcoin заработок bitcoin pattern exchange bitcoin ropsten ethereum trade cryptocurrency ethereum акции account bitcoin gambling bitcoin bitcoin fire
bitcoin all bitcoin bloomberg txid bitcoin games bitcoin bitcoin бесплатные ethereum обвал ethereum info avto bitcoin ethereum обвал ethereum перевод торговать bitcoin bitcoin linux bitcoin ммвб bitcoin capital Bit goldkran bitcoin
reklama bitcoin bitcoin allstars bitcoin cost платформы ethereum bitcoin links
