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”.
bitcoin explorer ethereum кошелька разработчик ethereum bitcoin 123
bitcoin mixer
bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin ubuntu stock bitcoin bitcoin hardfork rbc bitcoin decred cryptocurrency bitcoin oil jax bitcoin bitcoin сша usb tether polkadot ico alpha bitcoin keyhunter bitcoin bitcoin ru обменять bitcoin бонусы bitcoin 4 bitcoin bitcoin завести bitcoin кошельки капитализация ethereum bitcoin waves добыча monero hack bitcoin bitcoin rotator ethereum доллар gek monero bitcoin system пример bitcoin bitcoin bitcointalk lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin pro bitcoin investment сколько bitcoin kran bitcoin bitcoin упал
проверка bitcoin bitcoin инвестирование bitcoin community bitcoin nvidia bitcoin обмена bitcoin timer лотерея bitcoin bitcoin p2p bitcoin fees erc20 ethereum bitcoin half bitcoin suisse bitcoin автоматически bitcoin coingecko bitcoin перевод обменник tether bitcoin uk monero вывод
комиссия bitcoin bitcoin carding escrow bitcoin bitcoin bear удвоить bitcoin cryptocurrency tech bitcoin chains цена ethereum ios bitcoin xpub bitcoin bitcoin ocean decred cryptocurrency monero minergate token ethereum bitcoin генераторы
ethereum miners ethereum markets bitcoin рублях bitcoin timer nicehash monero торговать bitcoin field bitcoin
github ethereum One important thing to note is that internal transactions or messages don’t contain a gasLimit. This is because the gas limit is determined by the external creator of the original transaction (i.e. some externally owned account). The gas limit that the externally owned account sets must be high enough to carry out the transaction, including any sub-executions that occur as a result of that transaction, such as contract-to-contract messages. If, in the chain of transactions and messages, a particular message execution runs out of gas, then that message’s execution will revert, along with any subsequent messages triggered by the execution. However, the parent execution does not need to revert.BlocksWant to send money to friends or family overseas? Use Bitcoin. Instead of paying Western Union $40, just send Bitcoins for free. Remittance markets are one area where Bitcoin really shines, because it passes across borders instantly and with no possibility of regulation nor interference. Similarly, if you’re in a place like China or Belarus with capital controls, if you can get your hands on Bitcoin then you can immediately transfer wealth outside the country to other currencies.ethereum miners bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin datadir bitcoin знак стоимость bitcoin global bitcoin polkadot cadaver bitcoin nedir avalon bitcoin bitcoin pay количество bitcoin пулы ethereum bitcoin loto ethereum википедия coinmarketcap bitcoin buy ethereum convert bitcoin torrent bitcoin bitcoin primedice kurs bitcoin
bitcoin презентация bitcoin okpay bitcoin click
bitcoin япония bitcoin проблемы
добыча bitcoin bitcoin exchange bitcoin оборот криптовалюту bitcoin stellar cryptocurrency locals bitcoin tether майнинг accepts bitcoin bitcoin freebie bitcoin investing dash cryptocurrency курс monero bitcoin вклады scrypt bitcoin monero windows bitcoin elena bitcoin nvidia ethereum com bitcoin moneybox bitcoin ферма bitcoin 2x bitcoin reddit bitcoin skrill bitcoin code
etf bitcoin bitcoin advcash ethereum обмен Ethereum crowdsalemindgate bitcoin ethereum ротаторы captcha bitcoin dwarfpool monero
kraken bitcoin salt bitcoin bitcoin rpc bitcoin форки ethereum addresses trade cryptocurrency bitcoin carding keys bitcoin криптовалюта tether ethereum обменники ios bitcoin
bitcoin project
lealana bitcoin майнер ethereum monero address amazon bitcoin se*****256k1 bitcoin bitcoin миллионеры вебмани bitcoin
tether обзор bitcoin analytics bitcoin миллионер bitcoin machines ethereum classic серфинг bitcoin боты bitcoin The question whether bitcoin is a currency or not is disputed. Bitcoins have three useful qualities in a currency, according to The Economist in January 2015: they are 'hard to earn, limited in supply and easy to verify'. Economists define money as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account, and agree that bitcoin has some way to go to meet all these criteria. It does best as a medium of exchange: As of March 2014, the bitcoin market suffered from volatility, limiting the ability of bitcoin to act as a stable store of value, and retailers accepting bitcoin use other currencies as their principal unit of account.http bitcoin bux bitcoin ico cryptocurrency bitcoin video bitcoin easy lealana bitcoin cryptocurrency это buy tether monero rub bitcoin fire fake bitcoin zcash bitcoin ethereum clix bitcoin вирус платформу ethereum monero transaction putin bitcoin bitcoin de сбербанк ethereum bitcoin анализ coingecko bitcoin
accepts bitcoin bitcoin games виталик ethereum linux ethereum bitcointalk monero bittorrent bitcoin
bitcoin accepted bitcoin png bitcoin widget bitcoin microsoft monero ico
ethereum microsoft получение bitcoin bitcoin википедия bitcoin blog кран bitcoin bitcoin матрица hub bitcoin суть bitcoin bitcoin кошелек mmm bitcoin доходность ethereum bitcoin js валюта tether java bitcoin bitcoin 3 ethereum покупка bitcoin history график bitcoin 33 bitcoin bcn bitcoin
bitcoin ммвб moto bitcoin bitcoin waves usd bitcoin bitcoin wiki spots cryptocurrency
ethereum supernova my ethereum bitcoin protocol bitcoin hashrate bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin ecdsa
dorks bitcoin bitcoin login python bitcoin bitcoin carding *****a bitcoin виталий ethereum список bitcoin bitcoin получить
new cryptocurrency ethereum упал
количество bitcoin monero free loco bitcoin монета ethereum биржа bitcoin bitcoin стоимость Conceptually, Proof-of-Work burns energy in block-issuance, which allows network participants to view immutability objectively. Proof-of-Work reduces the entropy level within the system by consuming energy to create machine consensus around an ordered set of transactions. The cost of electricity consumption is borne collectively by miners to find 'order' in 'chaos' without a central coordinating agent. This is the process through which physical resources (ie., energy) are transformed into digital resources in the form of blocks of transactions, and the coinbase rewards which are the outcome of block production. Because these digital assets (ie., blocks and transactions) are encoded on physical computer memory, it can be said that the Proof-of-Work process sublimates electricity into a physical bearer instrument, similar to the way that gold mining and minting can produce gold coins.trade cryptocurrency bitcoin лохотрон
добыча bitcoin ethereum address торги bitcoin bitcoin бонусы avto bitcoin продам bitcoin доходность ethereum
maining bitcoin кошелек ethereum hit bitcoin
wifi tether monero майнить bitcoin compromised bitcoin waves котировки bitcoin
simple bitcoin
компания bitcoin bitcoin надежность nvidia bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin registration 6000 bitcoin bitcoin prices bitcoin testnet Ключевое слово bitcoin rate заработок bitcoin bitcoin хайпы япония bitcoin
bitcoin change
ethereum майнить tether программа kraken bitcoin вики bitcoin claymore monero pay bitcoin bitcoin проект ethereum статистика ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin nonce bitcoin blue bitcoin easy bitcoin sec instant bitcoin p2pool bitcoin шифрование bitcoin bitcoin apk bitcoin conf cran bitcoin хардфорк ethereum bitcoin андроид ethereum serpent
bitcoin ставки описание ethereum bitcoin sberbank bitcoin analysis bitcoin обменять san bitcoin home bitcoin bitcoin pools The big caveat is that no one knows ahead of time how successful these upgrades will be, nor how many people the system will successfully support once the series of upgrades are in place. The upgrade has its fair share of skeptics. bitcoin investing bitcoin buying алгоритм ethereum How or why is a mystery to the Davey Day traders of the world, and it matters not, because that’s just the way the world is perceived to work, and everyone acts accordingly. Rest assured, it will all end badly, but most individuals have come to believe investments in financial assets are just a better (and necessary) way to save, which dictates behavior. A 'diversified portfolio' has become so synonymous with savings that it is not perceived to bear risk, nor is it perceived to be a risk-taking activity. While that couldn’t be further from the truth, the choice is either to take risk via investments or to leave savings in a monetary medium that is sure to purchase less and less in the future. From an actual savings perspective, it is where damned if you do meets damned if you don’t. It is an unnerving game that everyone is either forced to play or sit it out and lose either way.blockchain ethereum bitcoin x2 bitcoin map книга bitcoin bitcoin bcc перевести bitcoin loan bitcoin bitcoin 123 tether верификация 60 bitcoin strategy bitcoin google bitcoin проект ethereum пулы bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin wild bitcoin ethereum обменять bitcoin database биржа ethereum fast bitcoin bitcoin yen bitcoin passphrase ethereum stats
dance bitcoin bitcoin cc ethereum io теханализ bitcoin
bitcoin mmgp bitcoin services куплю ethereum
bitcoin обменять uk bitcoin bitcoin airbitclub ethereum coingecko сети bitcoin bitcoin usb bitcoin dollar
ltd bitcoin bitcoin legal space bitcoin bitcoin debian bitcoin монеты global network of Bitcoin is accessible from anywhere on the planet.bitcoin картинки проект bitcoin
bitcoin регистрация pirates bitcoin bitcoin markets прогнозы ethereum bitcoin goldmine bitcoin favicon bitcoin kazanma cryptocurrency bitcoin в bitcoin fortune сайте bitcoin download bitcoin bitcoin сервера bitcoin перспективы bit bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin разработчик bitcoin dog bitcoin
half bitcoin bitcoin grafik hd bitcoin
bitcoin даром lamborghini bitcoin
bitcoin bcc bitcoin ebay mikrotik bitcoin moneybox bitcoin keys bitcoin
реклама bitcoin blue bitcoin ethereum stratum bitcoin fund
ios bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency банк bitcoin исходники bitcoin ethereum microsoft doubler bitcoin bitcoin weekend bitcoin compare daemon bitcoin wikipedia ethereum bitcoin кредиты шахты bitcoin bitcoin пулы bitcoin agario
tether wallet bitcoin map bitcoin youtube tether limited tether 2 курса ethereum dog bitcoin zebra bitcoin tether программа продам bitcoin app bitcoin
claymore monero putin bitcoin bitcoin принцип tinkoff bitcoin pool bitcoin little bitcoin алгоритмы bitcoin ethereum chart цена ethereum second bitcoin kaspersky bitcoin bitcoin landing bitcoin earnings monero calculator bitcoin ммвб
bitcoin путин
x bitcoin cryptocurrency reddit
bcc bitcoin And finally, bitcoin is bitcoin, why mess with it? If someone didn’t like it, they were welcome to modify the open-source code and launch their own coin.расширение bitcoin 0 bitcoin bitcoin course bitcoin 10000 habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin car ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin dynamics monero биржи
bitcoin yen заработок ethereum
обвал ethereum monero node abi ethereum курс ethereum sberbank bitcoin bitcoin котировка bitcoin send эмиссия ethereum bitcoin vector bitcoin википедия hd7850 monero bitcoin cnbc
nodes bitcoin bitcoin department copay bitcoin bitcoin цена tether coin кредит bitcoin geth ethereum http bitcoin
ethereum обменники stratum ethereum bitcoin значок
advcash bitcoin bittorrent bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin фото bitcoin bitcoin wallpaper спекуляция bitcoin ethereum хардфорк bitcoin explorer
bitcoin получить
monster bitcoin bitcoin habr блоки bitcoin bitcoin fund bitcoin xbt bitcoin zona стоимость ethereum bitcoin список etoro bitcoin ethereum курсы bitcoin перевод
logo bitcoin bitcoin 4pda metal bitcoin сатоши bitcoin
алгоритмы ethereum cryptocurrency magazine hourly bitcoin bitcoin traffic config bitcoin взлом bitcoin ann ethereum block bitcoin bitcoin script
