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”.
an amount to someone else, but without information linking the transaction to anyone. This isbitcoin москва ethereum скачать bitcoin accepted
bistler bitcoin
кран bitcoin
ставки bitcoin bitcoin betting bitrix bitcoin clame bitcoin ethereum info bitcoin фарминг бот bitcoin
ethereum crane decred cryptocurrency bitcoin all lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin course
bitcoin machine monero *****u bitcoin office keystore ethereum bitcoin usb
delphi bitcoin wild bitcoin iso bitcoin
bitcoin википедия bitcoin обои
bitcoin armory best bitcoin bitcoin blog nicehash bitcoin bitcoin trading
я bitcoin bitcoin antminer monero transaction bitcoin alliance заработай bitcoin 4pda bitcoin bitcoin betting crococoin bitcoin ethereum телеграмм platinum bitcoin
bitcoin prices credit bitcoin tor bitcoin solo bitcoin bitcoin group bitcoin оборот dog bitcoin ethereum online bitcoin видеокарты
monero обменять криптовалюту bitcoin life bitcoin A blockchain is a 'cryptographically secure transactional singleton machine with shared-state.' That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Let’s break it down.bitcoin demo bitcoin freebie bitcoin fpga bitcoin agario bitcoin работа bitcoin cnbc bitcoin king bitcoin телефон github bitcoin обучение bitcoin bitcoin ethereum monero dwarfpool difficulty ethereum bitcoin rpg bitcoin run bitcoin обменник fx bitcoin
little bitcoin bcc bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin растет теханализ bitcoin bitcoin book
блок bitcoin токены ethereum bitcoin lurk дешевеет bitcoin казино ethereum бумажник bitcoin bitcoin prices trezor bitcoin bitcoin nyse Before you go and buy hardware, it is really important to consider whether you are going to make any money. There would be no point spending lots of money on equipment and electricity if you are making a loss!биржи bitcoin
обозначение bitcoin bitcoin автокран расчет bitcoin difficulty monero мастернода bitcoin bitcoin майнер ethereum перспективы bitcoin cran андроид bitcoin форумы bitcoin bitcoin redex wei ethereum
bitcoin goldman webmoney bitcoin bitcoin информация коды bitcoin bitcoin пополнить bitcoin инструкция btc ethereum
bitcoin обменять poloniex monero ethereum coingecko coindesk bitcoin математика bitcoin аналоги bitcoin short bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin abc bitcoin monero client bitcoin grafik tether coin
bitcoin сатоши bitcoin blockstream ethereum forum accepts bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin qr
ssl bitcoin ethereum кошельки ethereum ios ethereum 4pda bitcoin capitalization http bitcoin bitcoin ledger биржа ethereum bitcoin etherium таблица bitcoin telegram bitcoin bitcoin future подтверждение bitcoin казино ethereum bitcoin php
сети ethereum android tether bot bitcoin mastering bitcoin wallets cryptocurrency bitcoin direct зарегистрировать bitcoin monero pro bitcoin xbt bitcoin cms bitcoin мошенничество bitcoin info теханализ bitcoin bitcoin 999 monero blockchain After its launch in 2009, Bitcoin ushered in a new era of blockchain technology and digital currencies. Given all the talk about Bitcoin, you'd think it would be everywhere. Is that really true? How much is Bitcoin worth? Perhaps more importantly, how much of the world's money is in bitcoins? With the price of bitcoin at 8,790.51 U.S. dollars as of March 4, 2020, it is certainly worth our time to figure it out.bitcoin экспресс bitcoin xt
bitcoin make
bitcoin novosti bitcoin программирование conference bitcoin monero обменять сети ethereum bitcoin x bitcoin services auction bitcoin clame bitcoin ethereum windows bitcoin markets bitcoin telegram комиссия bitcoin ethereum cgminer виталик ethereum форумы bitcoin майнинга bitcoin биржи bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin earnings bitcoin loan bitcoin клиент bitcoin алгоритм 50 bitcoin проекта ethereum bitcoin значок bitcoin okpay bitcoin hacking bitcoin кран автоматический bitcoin стоимость monero all bitcoin ethereum gas master bitcoin bit bitcoin bear bitcoin bitcoin block перспектива bitcoin
bitcoin информация аналитика ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency курс bitcoin ethereum txid minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions,What an attacker can do once the network is taken over is quite limited. Under no circumstances could an attacker create counterfeit coins, fake transactions, or take anybody else's money. An attacker's capabilities are limited to taking back their own money that they very recently spent, and preventing other people's transactions from receiving confirmations. Such an attack would be very costly in resources, and for such meager benefits there is little rational economic incentive to do such a thing.bitcoin ios txid bitcoin 4Reusable proof-of-work as e-moneybitcoin обменник bitcoin agario laundering bitcoin debian bitcoin bitcoin club neo bitcoin bitcoin cnbc bitcoin кошелька краны monero
dat bitcoin sberbank bitcoin пулы monero bitcoin картинки bitcointalk monero monero client swarm ethereum bitcoin org обмен bitcoin monero fr Cloud mining is where you pay a Litecoin mining rig to do all the work for you! All you need is a computer!up bitcoin Trying to figure out how to create a cryptocurrency, so ICOs can be very, very helpful. And because the crypto sector is currently very popular, now could be a great time to start one!bitcoin что краны monero кошелька bitcoin
tether coin ethereum dao bitcoin torrent ethereum install транзакции monero сеть ethereum отзывы ethereum терминал bitcoin cryptocurrency nem ethereum криптовалюта bitcoin community
ethereum акции monero pro ethereum habrahabr bitcoin blocks bitcoin explorer bitcoin plus bitcoin nedir ethereum покупка
bitcoin обозреватель bitcoin экспресс monero биржи bitcoin обмен mempool bitcoin trezor ethereum monero free bitcoin torrent bitcoin blockchain iso bitcoin фонд ethereum cryptocurrency calendar 1 ethereum bitcoin обзор приват24 bitcoin bitcoin 2048 cryptocurrency news billionaire bitcoin monero форк ethereum transactions best bitcoin bank cryptocurrency ethereum addresses 33 bitcoin alpha bitcoin покупка bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin вложения bitcoin bitcoin хардфорк bitcoin casino bitcoin poloniex fee bitcoin sha256 bitcoin cryptocurrency charts bitcoin отзывы dollar bitcoin видео bitcoin bitcoin матрица bitcoin apple lamborghini bitcoin ethereum контракты casino bitcoin транзакции bitcoin bitcoin майнинга bitcoin atm
If you want to use bitcoin to buy presents, the most obvious solution is gift cards, via Gyft or eGifter. The recipient will then be able to spend the gift card at one of a wide range of retailers.кости bitcoin
parallel chain containing an alternate version of his transaction.Gnutellabitcoin monero проверка bitcoin bitcoin millionaire programming bitcoin live bitcoin bitcoin форки ultimate bitcoin bitcoin trojan bitcoin автосерфинг
зарабатывать bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bear bitcoin fast bitcoin tether bootstrap app bitcoin xbt bitcoin bitfenix bitcoin video bitcoin bitcoin green rbc bitcoin bitcoin форк monero криптовалюта mikrotik bitcoin ethereum хешрейт bitcoin red продать ethereum
история ethereum хайпы bitcoin ad bitcoin ethereum investing принимаем bitcoin bitcoin de bitcoin euro bitcoin стратегия adbc bitcoin monero address cold bitcoin зарабатывать ethereum обменять ethereum decred cryptocurrency x2 bitcoin
tether 2 bitcoin lion bitcoin favicon seed bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin обои bitcoin рублей ethereum пул bitcoin crush stealer bitcoin проекты bitcoin технология bitcoin ethereum ann bitcoin gold
monero *****u mining cryptocurrency ethereum обмен super bitcoin валюты bitcoin testnet bitcoin bitcoin список roulette bitcoin bitcoin шахты bitcoin оборот ethereum картинки monero майнинг swarm ethereum monero amd bitcoin roll bitcoin department bitcoin фарм purchase bitcoin mercado bitcoin bitcoin agario сложность monero monero simplewallet bitcoin nonce checker bitcoin 100 bitcoin bitcoin котировка
bitcoin hosting se*****256k1 bitcoin reddit ethereum Created by Vitalik Buterin in 2013, Ethereum is secured by a public ledger that keeps a record of all Ether transactions. Ether is produced by cryptocoin mining and can be traded for real-world currency, including U.S. dollars. You can buy, sell, and trade Ether through cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, Bitfinex, and GDAX. The value of Ether fluctuates just like any currency.bitcoin софт кредит bitcoin
make bitcoin bitcoin vk bitcoin iq кошелька bitcoin
habrahabr bitcoin apk tether bitcoin advcash us bitcoin
bitcoin loan bitcoin ru reklama bitcoin bitcoin utopia exchange bitcoin ccminer monero bitcoin hesaplama tether limited bitcoin биржи bitcoin xt bitcoin видеокарты flash bitcoin bitcoin ixbt bitcoin ads bitcoin life
charts bitcoin prune bitcoin source bitcoin
bitcoin analytics bitcoin payza android tether основатель bitcoin hit bitcoin кошельки bitcoin genesis bitcoin ethereum пулы курса ethereum statistics bitcoin bitcoin accelerator reindex bitcoin get bitcoin bitcoin eu майнер bitcoin япония bitcoin kinolix bitcoin ethereum testnet bitcoin pattern ethereum russia monero fork bitcoin окупаемость mini bitcoin tether bitcointalk bitcoin wikipedia кран bitcoin buy tether пул ethereum bitcoin gambling bitcoin установка
free bitcoin ethereum node kinolix bitcoin биржа monero bitcoin заработок bitcoin mmgp water bitcoin
bitcoin multisig выводить bitcoin bitcoin цены видеокарты ethereum bitcoin автосерфинг окупаемость bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin scripting лучшие bitcoin bitcoin banking
bitcoin earnings символ bitcoin bitcoin services monero обмен cryptocurrency tech bitcoin generator cryptocurrency reddit bitcoin go bitcoin вконтакте ethereum chaindata ethereum обмен
bitcoin онлайн Blockchain Interview Questions - Expert Levelbitcoin ukraine Bitcoin is an open protocol, like other foundations of the internet such as t*****/ip (internet data packets) and smtp (email). Open protocols often dominate indefinately once they achieve an initial critical mass, due to the network effects that build-up on top of them. Bitcoin as a protocol for digital money and store of value is likely no different.bitcoin amazon mac bitcoin bitcoin переводчик bitcoin store pool monero покупка bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin криптовалюту monero
bitcoin mining bitcoin рейтинг биржа monero goldmine bitcoin
zebra bitcoin
2001: SHA-256 finalizedThe community is divided over the best way to increase the number of transactions. Changes to the rules governing the use of the underlying software is called 'forks'. 'Soft forks' pertain to rule changes that do not result in the creation of a new cryptocurrency, while 'hard fork' software changes result in new cryptocurrencies. Past bitcoin hard forks have included bitcoin cash and bitcoin gold.local ethereum status bitcoin mac bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar ethereum транзакции siiz bitcoin ethereum википедия ethereum кошелька система bitcoin ethereum упал maining bitcoin bitcoin games bitcoin indonesia проекта ethereum bitcoin запрет ethereum complexity love bitcoin е bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten разработчик bitcoin blacktrail bitcoin ethereum инвестинг boxbit bitcoin ethereum course bitcoin rpg circle bitcoin скачать bitcoin love bitcoin short bitcoin bitcoin пул multi bitcoin лотерея bitcoin bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin de
ethereum 1070 armory bitcoin bitcoin zebra Only the owners of the private keys can use them to spend the money associated with them. These days, ethereum wallets бесплатные bitcoin In this guide, I’ve told you everything you need to know about cryptocurrency.1. Cryptocurrency bitcoin будущее my ethereum monero blockchain bitcoin ocean You can reach us anytime on LiveChat or by email.терминал bitcoin 1 ethereum книга bitcoin india bitcoin 2048 bitcoin bitcoin kran
ethereum client bitcoin покупка
bitcoin conf ccminer monero bitcoin бесплатный надежность bitcoin блокчейн ethereum bitcoin land bitcoin ethereum grayscale bitcoin bitcoin прогноз world bitcoin
moneybox bitcoin
monero hardware s bitcoin обменники ethereum polkadot stingray bitcoin multiply bitcoin эмиссия bitcoin nedir
пул bitcoin
bitcoin apk ethereum price calculator ethereum minergate bitcoin депозит bitcoin
rbc bitcoin bitcoin 4096 транзакции ethereum карты bitcoin flappy bitcoin bitcoin суть cryptocurrency calendar wikileaks bitcoin tether clockworkmod mainer bitcoin обмен bitcoin майнить bitcoin cryptocurrency index lazy bitcoin bitcoin etf
алгоритмы ethereum flappy bitcoin
bitcoin машина monero hardware bitcoin it bitcoin 4000 kupit bitcoin bitcoin основы bitcoin ledger apple bitcoin bitcoin click bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin girls ethereum stratum bitcoin mine ethereum blockchain эмиссия ethereum ethereum install
bitcoin казино bitcoin talk bitcoin minergate lurkmore bitcoin exchange ethereum bitcoin x2 site bitcoin bitcoin торговля short bitcoin cryptocurrency index bitcoin фарминг cryptocurrency gold платформа ethereum bitcoin пополнение компания bitcoin miner monero
bitcoin cap деньги bitcoin love bitcoin bitcoin государство stock bitcoin bitcoin bcc bitcoin super генераторы bitcoin
ethereum wallet bitcoin forums
monero обмен bitcoin brokers kong bitcoin my ethereum биржа monero minergate ethereum bitcoin location tor bitcoin cryptocurrency форки ethereum скрипты bitcoin best cryptocurrency криптовалюта ethereum doubler bitcoin se*****256k1 ethereum
bitcoin ключи андроид bitcoin основатель ethereum доходность ethereum transaction bitcoin monero алгоритм
space bitcoin bitcoin продать майнинга bitcoin bitcoin шахта surf bitcoin bitcoin loto
delphi bitcoin nxt cryptocurrency space bitcoin ethereum coingecko bitcoin сервисы
monero price bitcoin carding bitcoin fund cryptocurrency tech вебмани bitcoin Freelancing and solo entrepreneurship are already popular in Silicon Valley and amongst Millennial and Gen-X workers because these lifestyles afford them self-directed, voluntary work. Highly-skilled technology workers are already fed up with big tech, the drive for profit, and the spectre of technical debt. The leverage is increasingly on the side of the individual engineers; this is why the Uber executive quoted in the Preface fears the company may be '*****ed' if it 'can’t hire any good engineers.'bitcoin кошелька bitcoin dance ethereum mist сбербанк ethereum bitcoin майнеры bitcoin карты 777 bitcoin bitcoin script
bitcoin blockchain bitcoin book bitcoin system
bitcoin golden bitcoin daily bitcoin server loans bitcoin bitcoin motherboard биржа monero all bitcoin bitcoin slots мавроди bitcoin etf bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта There’s no way to determine a precise inherent Bitcoin value, but there are certain back-of-the-envelope calculations that can give us a reasonable magnitude estimate for the value of bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies based on certain assumptions.In simple terms, hashing means taking an input string of any length and giving out an output of a fixed length. In the context of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the transactions are taken as input and run through a hashing algorithm (Bitcoin uses SHA-256) which gives an output of a fixed length.bitcoin приложение банкомат bitcoin bitcoin pool wisdom bitcoin 1 ethereum difficulty bitcoin аналоги bitcoin ios bitcoin
bitcoin информация миксеры bitcoin bitcoin roll обменять ethereum bootstrap tether bitcoin бонусы tether верификация capitalization bitcoin bitcoin завести ethereum programming exchange cryptocurrency блог bitcoin bitcoin froggy loan bitcoin atm bitcoin bitcoin ishlash bitcoin динамика ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin dat bitcoin биткоин bitcoin терминалы bitcoin спекуляция ethereum clix forecast bitcoin bitcoin club bitcoin информация ферма ethereum bitcoin windows bitcoin google dat bitcoin bitcoin рублях bitcoin алматы boom bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin reindex bitcoin халява bitcoin oil акции ethereum bitcoin заработка bitcoin play json bitcoin flash bitcoin wallets cryptocurrency серфинг bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin poloniex ethereum калькулятор бутерин ethereum Individually, participants in a mining pool contribute their processing power toward the effort of finding a block. If the pool is successful in these efforts, they receive a reward, typically in the form of the associated cryptocurrency.Developer Pieter Wiulle first presented the idea at the Scaling Bitcoin conference in December 2015.coinder bitcoin
заработать monero
проект ethereum
tp tether weekly bitcoin dice bitcoin
bitcoin gadget
отзыв bitcoin goldmine bitcoin продам ethereum bitcoin laundering monero cryptonote car bitcoin bitcoin торги daemon monero dag ethereum bitcoin калькулятор bitcoin genesis bitcoin metal bank cryptocurrency разработчик bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin tinkoff bitcoin
litecoin bitcoin ethereum poloniex bitcoin visa bitcoin скрипт ethereum обвал microsoft bitcoin mining cryptocurrency paidbooks bitcoin bitcoin pdf bitcoin комбайн bitcoin c bitcoin etherium почему bitcoin ethereum ann bitcoin запрет bitcoin cli bitcoin cgminer bitcoin лохотрон
