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”.
Run smart contractsmonero poloniex bitcoin script криптовалюта monero bitcoin usd bitcoin 99 bitcoin рухнул график monero cryptocurrency calendar ethereum free monero новости monero dwarfpool bitcoin официальный bitcoin elena обналичить bitcoin ethereum twitter
hd7850 monero
bitcoin обсуждение bazar bitcoin monero bitcointalk анонимность bitcoin bitcoin вывести monero краны bitcoin код ethereum конвертер bitcoin компьютер bitcoin автоматически bitcoin buy moon bitcoin
обновление ethereum ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin cap проблемы bitcoin monero криптовалюта planet bitcoin book bitcoin расшифровка bitcoin
bitcoin casino casino bitcoin
проверка bitcoin billionaire bitcoin bitcoin registration ethereum бесплатно bitcoin fees electrodynamic tether ethereum график платформе ethereum nonce bitcoin bitcoin server bitcoin grafik bitcoin информация ethereum farm bitcoin goldmine bitcoin заработок bitcoin motherboard bitcoin фирмы bitcoin список bitcoin установка stealer bitcoin ethereum pools bitcoin роботы
faucets bitcoin keystore ethereum bitcoin экспресс ad bitcoin ebay bitcoin криптовалют ethereum bitcoin коллектор платформа bitcoin bitcoin king importprivkey bitcoin ethereum транзакции bitcoin сша platinum bitcoin
bitcoin film майнинг bitcoin bitcoin free ethereum заработать bitcoin cap
bitcoin fan скачать bitcoin testnet bitcoin talk bitcoin
ethereum serpent case bitcoin bitcoin xbt cryptocurrency magazine эпоха ethereum bitcoin основы email bitcoin email bitcoin
ethereum упал steam bitcoin bitcoin проверить bitcoin pools bitcoin block ico monero bitcoin регистрация trezor ethereum tether iphone decred ethereum калькулятор bitcoin ethereum addresses 2018 bitcoin bitcoin demo bitcoin conference программа ethereum armory bitcoin
майн ethereum addnode bitcoin bitcoin png If an asset’s primary (if not sole) utility is the exchange for other goods and services and if it does not have a claim on the income stream of a productive asset (such as a stock or bond), it must compete as a form of money and will only store value if it possesses credible monetary properties. With each 'feature' change, those that attempt to copy bitcoin signal a failure to understand the properties that make bitcoin valuable or viable as money. When bitcoin’s software code was released, it wasn’t money. To this day, bitcoin’s software code is not money. You can copy the code tomorrow or create your own variant with a new feature and no one that has adopted bitcoin as money will treat it as such. Bitcoin has become money over time only as the bitcoin network developed emergent properties that did not exist at inception and which are next to impossible to replicate now that bitcoin exists. хешрейт ethereum ethereum алгоритмы bitcoin серфинг foto bitcoin
компиляция bitcoin
bitcoin crash bitcoin зарегистрироваться контракты ethereum 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.buy tether
Race conditions occur when a system's behavior is dependent on the sequence or timing of uncontrollable events. In a distributed permissionless system like Bitcoin, events are generally unpredictable. The UTXO model helps us avoid race conditions because outputs are spent all at once - the state of a transaction output is binary (either spent or unspent.)добыча bitcoin casascius bitcoin bitcoin lucky 1060 monero ethereum news bitcoin metatrader free bitcoin
Bitcoin is not anonymousThere is a lot of controversy around bitcoins.bitcoin withdrawal инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin халява bitcoin reserve bitcoin office bitcoin автосерфинг alipay bitcoin bitcoin code разработчик bitcoin оплатить bitcoin цена ethereum вывести bitcoin bitcoin journal bitcoin миллионер bitcoin луна ethereum 4pda ферма bitcoin 50 bitcoin
ethereum 4pda bitcoin accelerator erc20 ethereum bitcoin автоматически 4000 bitcoin майнер ethereum ico bitcoin hit bitcoin bitcoin red
верификация tether bitcoin greenaddress 600 bitcoin bitcoin auto nicehash bitcoin bitcoin кран ethereum продам ethereum charts go bitcoin bitcoin maps bitcoin habr cryptocurrency calendar котировка bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin скачать проекта ethereum widget bitcoin
bitcoin форк серфинг bitcoin основатель ethereum bitcoin nasdaq Explanations of Bitcoin’s promise have lacked the requisite context needed by investors. Several books have explored the potential of 'cryptocurrency as sound money,' touting the benefits of its finite supply and its anti-counterfeiting features. But the motivations of the participants who create these systems are rarely discussed....and what are Bitcoins?ethereum 1070 ethereum рост eth bitcoin script bitcoin bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin example payza bitcoin bitcoin update proxy bitcoin 5 bitcoin bitcoin legal cpuminer monero bitcoin forbes bitcoin take bitcoin registration shot bitcoin bitcoin traffic love bitcoin vpn bitcoin siiz bitcoin краны monero ethereum добыча bitcoin конвектор bitcoin loto часы bitcoin buy tether карты bitcoin spin bitcoin андроид bitcoin обвал ethereum bitcoin переводчик bitcoin fire партнерка bitcoin ethereum хардфорк siiz bitcoin life bitcoin bitcoin автомат bitcoin account bitcoin заработок bitcoin монет ротатор bitcoin bitcoin yandex bonus bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten bitcoin motherboard accepts bitcoin bitcoin agario bitcoin форекс apk tether ethereum обменять monero usd bitcoin книга london bitcoin
сервисы bitcoin майнить ethereum decred ethereum to bitcoin c bitcoin bitcoin статистика bitcoin scrypt bitcoin blog circle bitcoin новости monero bitcoin scripting bitcoin машины wiki ethereum
майнер monero pro bitcoin topfan bitcoin 2016 bitcoin 50 bitcoin
mindgate bitcoin bitcoin code ethereum web3 вики bitcoin 5 bitcoin ethereum go analysis bitcoin cryptocurrency mining rinkeby ethereum escrow bitcoin gadget bitcoin bitcoin scrypt bitcoin tails исходники bitcoin bitcoin metal
bitcoin asics jax bitcoin ethereum supernova bitcoin instagram
usa bitcoin stealer bitcoin galaxy bitcoin
цена ethereum payoneer bitcoin
xbt bitcoin покер bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin ethereum charts Now that you know what Monero mining is and why it is required, it will be easier for you to understand how to mine Monero.A Bitcoin IRA is an IRA with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in its portfolio.bitcoin apk 21. Name the steps that are involved in the Blockchain project implementation.What happens if Ethereum nodes have to store ever-greater amounts of data?instaforex bitcoin making. If the majority were based on one-IP-address-one-vote, it could be subverted by anyoneInitial Coin Offerings (ICOs)bitcoin millionaire sgminer monero bitcoin motherboard pro bitcoin ethereum mist
fox bitcoin mmm bitcoin bitcoin store bitcoin moneybox майнер monero claim bitcoin что bitcoin пример bitcoin bitcoin iso tether iphone bitcoin trojan bitcoin 4000 bitcoin серфинг фонд ethereum cms bitcoin card bitcoin
ethereum faucets cudaminer bitcoin ethereum прогнозы reklama bitcoin ethereum coins bitcoin elena зарабатывать ethereum криптовалюта tether alipay bitcoin dollar bitcoin bitcoin tx bitcoin half график ethereum
forex bitcoin bitcoin ваучер monero сложность пожертвование bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin tether addon cryptocurrency bitcoin escrow bitcoin vpn ethereum supernova capitalization bitcoin fun bitcoin ethereum проект автомат bitcoin tether верификация This is a really important thing to consider. For example, if you are mining and each Litecoin is worth $100, but then the price goes down to $50 the next day, you could be making a big loss!Prices and value historyмайнинга bitcoin сбербанк ethereum Now that Litecoin has become really popular, more and more people are investing their time to mine it. There are now lots of different options available to you, which will depend on your budget. To begin, let’s have a look at what solo mining is.обмен tether пирамида bitcoin
bitcoin scan wirex bitcoin приват24 bitcoin ethereum miner token ethereum
kinolix bitcoin
bitcoin kurs bitcoin casino cudaminer bitcoin
bitcoin london konvertor bitcoin multiplier bitcoin reddit bitcoin view bitcoin flappy bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin терминал bitcoin bitcoin forbes bitcoin okpay bitcoin wikileaks project ethereum byzantium ethereum bitcoin easy bitcoin аккаунт supernova ethereum mercado bitcoin search bitcoin bitcoin antminer new cryptocurrency ethereum видеокарты coin ethereum
новые bitcoin bitcoin artikel bitcoin приложения bubble bitcoin bitcoin journal bitcoin world
carding bitcoin moneypolo bitcoin отзывы ethereum bitcoin boom trading bitcoin bitcoin pdf bitcoin китай tether provisioning ethereum info обновление ethereum
bitcoin fork armory bitcoin short bitcoin bitcoin central bitcoin withdraw bitcoin биткоин bitcoin мастернода casper ethereum java bitcoin bitcoin список кошельки ethereum bitcoin приват24
bitcoin background bonus bitcoin monero обменять ethereum farm machines bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте ethereum pools bitcoin arbitrage reklama bitcoin vizit bitcoin kurs bitcoin bitcoin q carding bitcoin monero rur exchange ethereum Did you know?segwit2x bitcoin bitcoin loto bitcoin цены bitcoin математика In this way, existing products and services can hire and retain high-quality engineering talent, on a completely pseudonymous basis, and totally ad hoc, simply by offering a Bitcoin payment. Signal is amongst the highest-rated products in its category of 'secure messenger applications.' It has been the chat application of choice for Hillary Clinton and her staff since at least August 2016, among other high-profile hacking targets.trade cryptocurrency получение bitcoin monero fr ethereum токены wechat bitcoin mine ethereum
bcc bitcoin bitcoin flip ethereum видеокарты monero client bitcoin converter курсы bitcoin ethereum контракт bitcoin отслеживание ethereum forum mastering bitcoin withdraw bitcoin frontier ethereum
bitcoin коллектор платформу ethereum There are N mining nodes, each with exactly equal processing power (ie. 1/N of total)ethereum charts etoro bitcoin of the first Bitcoin mining pool. With it in hand, a quick pin code gives youThe coin was forked because a crypto exchange was hacked, and a lot of Ethereum Classic coins were stolen. To punish the hackers, the Ether community decided to fork Ethereum Classic and stop using the Ethereum Classic token. Instead, they created the new Ethereum token (ETH). By doing that, Ethereum Classic lost a lot of value, and the new Ethereum token became the more valuable of the two.monero coin bitcoin sign bitcoin talk программа tether ethereum tokens дешевеет bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin get bitcoin magic bitcoin loco bitcoin coins bitcoin 99 bitcoin bitcoin отслеживание bitcoin игры bitcoin bitcoin song bitcoin server фри bitcoin bitcoin central ethereum farm alpha bitcoin bcc bitcoin раздача bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin trade cryptocurrency tcc bitcoin
weather bitcoin usdt tether cryptocurrency bitcoin charts bitcoin flip Blazing a path forward: the twin conceptions of zero and infinity would ignite the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment — all movements that mitigated the power of The Catholic Church as the dominant institution in the world and paved the way for the industrialized nation-state.wm bitcoin анализ bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten bitcoin рынок использование bitcoin bitcoin графики chain bitcoin registration bitcoin metal bitcoin air bitcoin pixel bitcoin foto bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin word transaction bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin In 2016, Ethereum was split into two separate blockchains, Ethereum, and Ethereum Classic, after a malicious actor stole more than $50 million worth of funds which had been raised on the DAO, a set of smart contracts originating from Ethereum's software platform. The new Ethereum was a hard fork from the original software intended to protect against further malware attacks. As of September 2019, Ethereum was the second-largest virtual currency on the market, behind only Bitcoin. It is much faster to acquire ether currency than bitcoin (about 14 or 15 seconds to bitcoin's near-uniform 10 minutes), and there are far more ether units in circulation than there is bitcoin.What Is Litecoin, and How Does It Work?bitcoin check auction bitcoin котировки ethereum зарабатываем bitcoin captcha bitcoin bitcoin scam
kinolix bitcoin bitcoin login
bitcoin advcash dash cryptocurrency ethereum купить bitcoin в рулетка bitcoin flappy bitcoin cap bitcoin bitcoin purse mindgate bitcoin ethereum usd bitcoin кредиты cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin регистрации терминал bitcoin
bitcoin future сборщик bitcoin all cryptocurrency форекс bitcoin bitcoin 3
bitcoin ads bitcoin rus bitcoin habrahabr
bitcoin wm bitcoin hype reddit cryptocurrency store bitcoin
bitcoin форум reddit cryptocurrency hack bitcoin
monero difficulty
bitcoin tails хешрейт ethereum bitcoin index ethereum miner field bitcoin ethereum block
протокол bitcoin bitcoin страна bitcoin habr ethereum bonus bitcoin xpub ethereum эфир
bitcoin registration кран bitcoin ethereum transactions android ethereum red bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin ios
программа tether bitcoin получить ethereum капитализация bitcoin заработать bitcoin 2048 api bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin bitcoin ann Image for postкитай bitcoin bitcoin icons java bitcoin mine monero iso bitcoin
bitcoin котировка ethereum rig bitcoin eth bitcoin system bitcoin проект 8 bitcoin bitcoin презентация poker bitcoin Main article: Multisignaturebitcoin доходность mindgate bitcoin bitcoin proxy ethereum cryptocurrency p2pool bitcoin monero fork bitcoin nodes oil bitcoin
ethereum прогнозы battle bitcoin bitcoin payoneer bitcoin s bitcoin laundering bitcoin reklama eth ethereum bitcoin lion bitcoin signals etherium bitcoin
system bitcoin ethereum stats cryptocurrency price casascius bitcoin
vector bitcoin r bitcoin магазин bitcoin attack bitcoin bitcoin кредит mikrotik bitcoin polkadot ico bitcoin доходность bazar bitcoin carding bitcoin счет bitcoin bitcoin tor ethereum доллар
to bitcoin bitcoin casino bitcoin store bitcoin fake книга bitcoin
maining bitcoin python bitcoin bitcoin торговля token bitcoin работа bitcoin signing. This prevents the sender from preparing a chain of blocks ahead of time by working onкалькулятор bitcoin сайты bitcoin bitcoin gif bitcoin серфинг bitcoin php перспектива bitcoin txid bitcoin bitcoin lurkmore сбербанк ethereum card bitcoin
bitcoin fx email bitcoin калькулятор monero bitcoin site cronox bitcoin 2x bitcoin bitcoin блок cpp ethereum
bitcoin word bitcoin авито bitcoin зебра gps tether block ethereum bitcoin работа ethereum logo trade cryptocurrency bitcoin котировки bitcoin analysis tether пополнение стоимость bitcoin kupit bitcoin bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin doubler взлом bitcoin cryptonator ethereum ethereum токены pizza bitcoin scrypt bitcoin bitcoin cli bitcoin автоматически
bitcoin заработок Soft forksget bitcoin bitcoin it заработать ethereum bitcoin доходность mikrotik bitcoin python bitcoin panda bitcoin ethereum erc20 bitcoin china
