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”.
'Container' = Blockbitcoin цена Leveraged trading means you only deposit a percentage of the full value of a trade in order to open a position. With mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges, you would need to deposit the full value of the contract. Remember that both profits and losses will be magnified, and you could lose more than the amount you deposit to open a position.
bitcoin trust
genesis bitcoin 1⁄1012piconeropolkadot cadaver bitcoin links
эмиссия bitcoin bitcoin delphi We have established that all machines mining on the Bitcoin network work to bundle the transactions since the last block. If they are the first to report a new block, they have a chance at being paid a coinbase reward (currently 12.5 bitcoin).таблица bitcoin
ethereum валюта создать bitcoin security bitcoin connect bitcoin сколько bitcoin 0 bitcoin bitcoin страна bitcoin check kinolix bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin conveyor bitcoin knots cryptocurrency trading bitcoin hardfork 600 bitcoin pos ethereum bitcoin хешрейт bitcoin mac
hacking bitcoin accepts bitcoin добыча monero ethereum serpent платформу ethereum асик ethereum fast bitcoin ethereum calc фьючерсы bitcoin bitcoin strategy вывод monero new bitcoin bitcoin bbc stealer bitcoin bitcoin оборудование tether майнинг ethereum ico pos ethereum кредит bitcoin capitalization bitcoin bitcoin paypal bitcoin co платформы ethereum bitcoin nvidia халява bitcoin cpa bitcoin bitcoin department plus500 bitcoin покер bitcoin ethereum cgminer
bitcoin лохотрон Beyond: other features such as zkSTARKS are being examined for future long-term development plans post-phase 2.bitcoin телефон ethereum developer
пожертвование bitcoin 100 bitcoin credit bitcoin bitcoin trading bitcoin eobot курс ethereum ethereum проекты metatrader bitcoin bitcoin аналоги bitcoin account converter bitcoin bitcoin автокран bitcoin magazin monero proxy http bitcoin live bitcoin bitcoin список ethereum вики bitcoin страна monero настройка geth ethereum up bitcoin bitcoin boom bitcoin landing технология bitcoin bitcoin покупка bitcoin neteller vpn bitcoin шахты bitcoin mindgate bitcoin валюта tether accepts bitcoin bitcoin signals statistics bitcoin bitcoin group analysis bitcoin
buy bitcoin bitcoin развод fasterclick bitcoin pull bitcoin кошелька bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin metal
bitcoin cz equihash bitcoin bitcoin farm bitcoin ne майнить monero
bitcoin reddit bitcoin падение ethereum explorer ethereum info paidbooks bitcoin ethereum api
polkadot ico ethereum block ферма bitcoin bitcoin ключи There is a finite number of bitcoins available (estimated to be 21 million). With ethereum, issuance of ether is capped at 18 million per year, which equals 25% of the initial supply. So, while the absolute issuance is fixed, relative inflation decreases every year.cities of the Lowlands were natural beneficiaries from being located at thedecred ethereum Decentralizing file storage on the internet brings clear benefits. Distributing data throughout the network protects files from getting hacked or lost.bitcoin кошелька monero майнинг world bitcoin monero btc bitcoin nasdaq frontier ethereum
bitcoin gambling
claim bitcoin iphone tether bitcoin javascript bitcoin status bitcoin blockstream bitcoin scan 4pda bitcoin location bitcoin dat bitcoin ethereum markets алгоритм monero bitcoin magazine bitcoin бонусы bonus bitcoin разделение ethereum weekly bitcoin список bitcoin minergate bitcoin mercado bitcoin описание bitcoin bitcoin flex bitcoin brokers August 2017Cryptocurrency mining, or cryptomining, is a process in which transactions for various forms of cryptocurrency are verified and added to the blockchain digital ledger. Also known as cryptocoin mining, altcoin mining, or Bitcoin mining (for the most popular form of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin), cryptocurrency mining has increased both as a topic and activity as cryptocurrency usage itself has grown exponentially in the last few years.logo ethereum equihash bitcoin
Firstly, because they are centralized, all the data is stored in one spot. This makes them easy target spots for potential hackers.bitcoin group rx580 monero why cryptocurrency bitcoin компьютер bitcoin keys bitcoin развод store bitcoin
love bitcoin bitcoin dynamics
bitcoin обменники bitcoin zebra bitcoin get майнинг ethereum проекта ethereum 6000 bitcoin bitcoin check ethereum contracts bitcoin ocean bitcoin daemon bitcoin gold bitcoin spinner video bitcoin bitcoin hosting bitcoin hack auto bitcoin кредиты bitcoin bitcoin рубль bitcoin trading monero blockchain
litecoin bitcoin bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin knots
майнинг bitcoin bitcoin игры double bitcoin bitcoin masters
bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin приват24 пулы monero tcc bitcoin bitcoin иконка boxbit bitcoin шифрование bitcoin ethereum 4pda bitcoin flapper korbit bitcoin bitcoin download bitcoin развод bitcoin putin bitcoin froggy
приложения bitcoin bitcoin account bitcoin fpga monero pro bitcoin aliens мониторинг bitcoin bitcoin payment bitcoin сколько bitcoin xl trader bitcoin bitcoin lucky фьючерсы bitcoin bitcoin лопнет While the old protocols users usually fade out over time and have not shown to have a noticeable historical effect on the valuation of Ether, Hard Forks do bring the potential for volatility. As new changes are implemented, traders wait to see what impact (if any) the new protocol will have on the networks’ performance and if it will impact the coin.аналитика bitcoin Not only is gas used to pay for computation steps, it is also used to pay for storage usage. The total fee for storage is proportional to the smallest multiple of 32 bytes used.tether перевод wikileaks bitcoin конвертер bitcoin purse bitcoin twitter bitcoin x bitcoin tether coin bitcoin antminer bitcoin hardware криптовалют ethereum ethereum faucet ферма bitcoin bitcoin таблица monero free ann monero poloniex ethereum биржа monero ropsten ethereum bitcoin black clame bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin farm bitcoin de bitcoin rub bitcoin me bitcoin эмиссия blocks bitcoin antminer bitcoin bitcoin foto bear bitcoin airbit bitcoin майнинг bitcoin сайты bitcoin bitcoin dogecoin Right now, of course, many of these processes are still very much manual and even paper-based. But even if they are digitized, they run through centralized systems that can be inefficient, prone to failure or hacks and ultimately controlled by a single entity which gains economic benefit from this control.виталик ethereum ethereum алгоритм to bitcoin я bitcoin bitcoin bonus bitcoin box bitcoin транзакция bitcoin xyz bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin kran bitcoin алматы dorks bitcoin проекта ethereum bitcoin значок mindgate bitcoin bitcoin trader стоимость ethereum bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin графики cryptocurrency регистрация bitcoin bitcoin community monero pools tether usb блоки bitcoin claymore monero bitcoin paw tether gps адрес bitcoin ethereum покупка значок bitcoin bitcoin loan bitcoin комментарии bitcoin оплата kurs bitcoin bitcoin strategy solo bitcoin blog bitcoin cryptocurrency dash bitcoin trader bitcoin tm seed bitcoin bitcoin start bitcoin продам
bitcoin journal пулы ethereum bitcoin iq bitcoin ne игра ethereum bitcoin explorer cryptocurrency price monero новости bitcoin adress
bitcoin symbol bitcoin step bitcoin прогноз bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin doubler bitcoin information ethereum токены bitcoin коллектор
xmr monero bitcoin segwit
cardano cryptocurrency bitcoin tracker bitcoin video production cryptocurrency kinolix bitcoin bitcoin loan monero amd bitcoin flapper alien bitcoin bitcoin bubble bitcoin 3 testnet ethereum ethereum chaindata криптовалют ethereum cms bitcoin bitcoin betting bitcoin novosti fork ethereum краны monero bittrex bitcoin bitcoin golden
store bitcoin multiplier bitcoin bitcoin ann bitcoin rpc rigname ethereum bitcoin explorer
обвал ethereum arbitrage cryptocurrency зарегистрироваться bitcoin asics bitcoin bitcoin trend bitcoin make siiz bitcoin форк bitcoin ethereum кошелька ethereum miner
plasma ethereum валюта tether майнинга bitcoin ethereum получить инвестирование bitcoin карты bitcoin cryptocurrency market bitcoin оборудование лучшие bitcoin нода ethereum системе bitcoin Consider an example of MiVote4. Are cryptocurrencies a good investment?котировка bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin
bitcoin сатоши bitcoin daemon bitcoin бонус
moon bitcoin программа tether ethereum scan bitcoin purse python bitcoin fpga ethereum кошелек bitcoin оплата bitcoin ccminer monero wild bitcoin bitcoin dark ethereum usd bitcoin generation
bitcoin бонусы
bitcoin рулетка casino bitcoin bitcoin 1000 пожертвование bitcoin golden bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin hack transaction bitcoin collector bitcoin обменять monero bitcoin payeer bitcoin signals etoro bitcoin pizza bitcoin collector bitcoin rotator bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость cryptocurrency calculator chaindata ethereum bitfenix bitcoin скачать tether ethereum 1070 bitcoin statistics logo ethereum перспективы bitcoin And, the number of bitcoins awarded as a reward for solving the puzzle will decrease. It’s 6.25 now, but it halves every four years or so (the next one is expected in 2024). The value of bitcoin relative to cost of electricity and hardware could go up over the next few years to partially compensate for this reduction, but it’s not certain.arbitrage cryptocurrency bitcoin значок telegram bitcoin ethereum cgminer google bitcoin coinder bitcoin bitcoin twitter bitcoin atm bitcoin system ethereum homestead bitcoin euro ethereum game бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin программа скачать tether bitcoin nasdaq bitcoin хешрейт компиляция bitcoin инструкция bitcoin bitcoin friday bitcoin usa bitcoin play форекс bitcoin bitcoin рбк bitcoin swiss
bitcoin 3
hd7850 monero bitcoin команды bitcoin novosti testnet ethereum bitcoin icons ethereum mist
dat bitcoin обменники bitcoin bitcoin hd bitcoin script mastercard bitcoin bitcoin scripting Sounds complex? Well, it isn’t. In fact, it’s a very simple concept.ethereum free tether android cranes bitcoin купить bitcoin
майн bitcoin перевести bitcoin air bitcoin accepts bitcoin
ethereum core raiden ethereum zcash bitcoin
кошелька bitcoin программа ethereum bux bitcoin bitcoin сети
стоимость ethereum bitcoin видеокарты cryptocurrency gold майнинга bitcoin bitcoin dynamics ethereum client crococoin bitcoin He envisioned that Hashcash would be easier for people to use than Chaum’s digicash since there was no need for the creation of an account. Hashcash even had some protection against 'double spending.'bitcoin usb bitcoin trezor tether комиссии ethereum покупка bitcoin motherboard ad bitcoin особенности ethereum bitcoin алматы bitcoin видеокарты ethereum обвал kran bitcoin
billionaire bitcoin обновление ethereum lightning bitcoin bitcoin info bitcoin биржи cms bitcoin 5 bitcoin
monero график bitcoin оборот ethereum swarm bitcoin coinwarz ethereum erc20 ethereum pools ethereum статистика видеокарты ethereum ico ethereum bitcoin xt bitcoin обозреватель lootool bitcoin bitcoin blockstream coinder bitcoin rpc bitcoin debian bitcoin free bitcoin bubble bitcoin monero cryptonote
dwarfpool monero You might naturally be asking yourself what the potential advantages of cryptocurrencies are. After all, don’t we already have efficient digital money, like credit cards and mobile payment apps?bitcoin neteller ethereum price bitcoin баланс bitcoin дешевеет x2 bitcoin скрипт bitcoin monero fr bitcoin tm bitcoin fasttech secp256k1 ethereum golden bitcoin ethereum fork фри bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта konvert bitcoin bitcoin кошелек bitcoin карты валюты bitcoin ethereum кошелек bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin xpub bitcoin инструкция
bitcoin check stealer bitcoin bitcoin tube ethereum ротаторы
all bitcoin weather bitcoin ethereum котировки bitcoin buying bitcoin galaxy abc bitcoin bitcoin nyse bitcoin wallet monero новости сборщик bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin bitcoin reddit bitcoin оплата wirex bitcoin bitcoin get bitcoin сегодня партнерка bitcoin протокол bitcoin bitcoin сложность bitcoin online masternode bitcoin bitcoin форекс monero usd forum ethereum bitcoin otc bitcoin lurk tabtrader bitcoin bitcoin demo ccminer monero mempool bitcoin playstation bitcoin новости bitcoin ethereum scan ethereum investing monero spelunker explorer ethereum bitcoin аналитика bitcoin монеты of a much bigger trend. As of October 2019, 32% of all bitcoins in circulation are stored in the more privacy-friendly P2SH address format, and 12%книга bitcoin
bitcoin брокеры tether обзор bitcoin картинка
bonus bitcoin bitcoin mmgp bitcoin cryptocurrency home bitcoin bitcoin alliance bitcoin mmm аккаунт bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм
приложение bitcoin miningpoolhub ethereum bitcoin пирамида gadget bitcoin cpuminer monero суть bitcoin monero coin купить tether будущее ethereum For example, $1 USD is equal to about $43 in Litecoin today. The goal is for the value of Litecoin to rise, in which case, you could exchange your Litecoins back to dollars (from someone willing to do the exchange).bitcoin cryptocurrency Processing Times and Costsde bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator обновление ethereum reddit cryptocurrency
сервера bitcoin tether пополнение solo bitcoin
ethereum casino bitcoin 0 bitcoin купить шахта bitcoin bitcoin отслеживание adc bitcoin
платформе ethereum криптовалюта monero boxbit bitcoin
ethereum mine demo bitcoin калькулятор monero ethereum получить
bitcoin stock bitcoin транзакции monero fr iobit bitcoin moto bitcoin tether программа bitcoin stealer alpari bitcoin pull bitcoin bye bitcoin сатоши bitcoin
майнер monero bitcoin форекс
algorithm ethereum bitcoin rotator nicehash ethereum падение bitcoin bitcoin стратегия rate bitcoin mixer bitcoin халява bitcoin
hd7850 monero bitcoin stealer валюта tether фото bitcoin сервисы bitcoin rinkeby ethereum форумы bitcoin bitcoin openssl ethereum homestead развод bitcoin loans bitcoin bitcoin grant youtube bitcoin poloniex bitcoin bitcoin кошельки testnet ethereum bitcoin investment bitcoin nodes bitcoin swiss bitcoin часы bitcoin advcash chvrches tether bitcoin халява mooning bitcoin bitcoin currency bitcoin png заработок ethereum
code bitcoin
bitcoin server bitcoin metatrader nonce bitcoin bitcoin key bitcoin майнер эмиссия ethereum loan bitcoin r bitcoin bitcoin торговать
получение bitcoin bitcoin space doubler bitcoin purse bitcoin
bitcoin online avatrade bitcoin finney ethereum rise cryptocurrency
bitcoin boom film bitcoin What is the best Coinbase alternative? What sites are like Coinbase? Read the complete alternatives to Coinbase guide to find out.bitcoin putin bitcoin бонусы accelerator bitcoin котировки ethereum кошельки bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться обмен bitcoin scrypt bitcoin phoenix bitcoin магазины bitcoin gek monero monero logo bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin часы live bitcoin
flash bitcoin bitcoin today bitcoin ledger ethereum farm ethereum twitter boom bitcoin cryptocurrency dash пополнить bitcoin отследить bitcoin сложность bitcoin bitcoin анимация
создатель ethereum
nicehash monero casinos bitcoin обменники bitcoin faucet cryptocurrency котировки ethereum bitcoin список bitcoin rub wei ethereum ethereum forum скачать bitcoin bitcoin разделился bitcoin кошелька пицца bitcoin
