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”.
youtube bitcoin bitcoin config It's worth noting that virtually all successful consumer-facing bitcoin businesses do indeed already implement some kind of consumer protection; Routine escrow was used by Localbitcoins, Silk Road and the bitcoin ebay-site Bitmit. Others such as online bitcoin casinos rely on their long-standing reputation, while others such as Coinbase.com rely on the legal and regulatory system.'Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.'bitcoin loan хайпы bitcoin bitcoin код
polkadot блог
биржа bitcoin bitcoin уязвимости tether clockworkmod moneypolo bitcoin ethereum price bitcoin linux ethereum foundation bitcoin rpg 1070 ethereum forex bitcoin скрипты bitcoin bitcoin symbol ethereum перевод app bitcoin
mikrotik bitcoin login bitcoin
бесплатные bitcoin
server bitcoin bitcoin keywords
bitcoin эмиссия 50000 bitcoin bitcoin футболка ethereum алгоритм atm bitcoin
bitcoin c bitcoin nodes service bitcoin WHAT IS ETHEREUM?bitcoin pdf Theft also occurs at sites where bitcoins are used to purchase illicit goods. In late November 2013, an estimated $100 million in bitcoins were allegedly stolen from the online illicit goods marketplace Sheep Marketplace, which immediately closed. Users tracked the coins as they were processed and converted to cash, but no funds were recovered and no culprits identified. A different black market, Silk Road 2, stated that during a February 2014 hack, bitcoins valued at $2.7 million were taken from escrow accounts.cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin поиск fasterclick bitcoin moon bitcoin bitcoin blender bitcoin scan One of the darkest sides of how does Bitcoin work is that you don’t have to use your identity, because of that Bitcoin has been in the news a lot for being used by criminals. You might have heard of something called Silk Road. This was a market on the dark web — an anonymous part of the internet that must be opened using a special browser.bitcoin datadir monero пул ethereum farm bitcoin blue bitcoin multiplier bitcoin passphrase mine ethereum
тинькофф bitcoin mail bitcoin bitcoin kurs bitcoin boom chain bitcoin я bitcoin генераторы bitcoin майнер ethereum bitcoin обмен bitcoin poloniex приложение tether bitcoin miner tether перевод bitcoin count buy tether
bitcoin playstation ферма ethereum map bitcoin cryptocurrency gold bitcoin hacker check bitcoin antminer bitcoin ethereum доходность скрипты bitcoin 1 ethereum
ethereum обменять monero bitcointalk bitcoin debian ethereum обозначение transactions bitcoin takara bitcoin ethereum ico bitcoin миксеры transactions bitcoin new bitcoin bitcoin sha256 скрипты bitcoin eobot bitcoin bitcoin plus500 rinkeby ethereum hd7850 monero bitcoin compromised tether пополнение bitcoin card ethereum заработок bitcoin example java bitcoin команды bitcoin monero miner bitcoin шахты сигналы bitcoin bitcoin change
bitcoin server
bitcoin usd bitcoin мастернода робот bitcoin майнинг monero bitcoin зебра отследить bitcoin
airbitclub bitcoin bitcoin cgminer bitcoin earn bitcoin 100 bitcoin stellar bitcoin сложность instaforex bitcoin golden bitcoin bitcoin drip blue bitcoin the ethereum lealana bitcoin airbit bitcoin новости ethereum tether tools bitcoin indonesia кредит bitcoin market bitcoin They can be affected by gapping: market volatility can cause prices to move from one level to another without actually passing through the level in between. Gapping (or slippage) usually occurs during periods of high market volatility. As a result, your stop-loss could be executed at a worse level than you had requested. This can worsen losses if the market moves against you.ethereum io ethereum инвестинг monero address ethereum addresses
monero майнить se*****256k1 bitcoin кошелька ethereum bitcoin 4096 monero купить bitcoin продам bitcoin traffic bitcoin пополнение ecopayz bitcoin charts bitcoin bitcoin news autobot bitcoin The entire crypto industry is still *****, and as it grows, so should Ethereum. It is one of the few coins that is used by ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), which means it acts as a launchpad for new tokens. This makes Ethereum a valuable platform to the community, and also means the price of Ether could continue to grow as more people continue to use it.bitcoin рейтинг claim bitcoin
The block size limit, in concert with the proof-of-work difficulty adjustment settings of bitcoin's consensus protocol, constitutes a bottleneck in bitcoin's transaction processing capacity. This can result in increasing transaction fees and delayed processing of transactions that cannot be fit into a block. Various proposals have come forth on how to scale bitcoin, and a contentious debate has resulted. Business Insider in 2017 characterized this debate as an 'ideological battle over bitcoin's future.'bitcoin robot konverter bitcoin ферма ethereum tether clockworkmod ethereum twitter bitcoin стоимость bitcoin clock direct bitcoin bye bitcoin bitcoin metal ethereum доллар bitcoin clock daily bitcoin теханализ bitcoin 1070 ethereum
pump bitcoin bitcoin hashrate MEW is a free, open-source, client-side interface that allows you to create an Ethereum wallet. Unlike some other web wallets, MEW gives you control of your private key. It is quite secure and allows you to store other ERC-20 tokens in there too.котировка bitcoin bonus bitcoin
уязвимости bitcoin bitcoin 4 cgminer bitcoin bitcoin комиссия
карты bitcoin titan bitcoin battle bitcoin bitcoin node команды bitcoin bitcoin transactions bitcoin презентация bitcoin cny rinkeby ethereum
mac bitcoin bitcoin get
кошелек ethereum bitcoin сервисы bitcoin froggy дешевеет bitcoin продаю bitcoin bitcoin сша bitcoin conf bitcoin кредит bitcoin maps скачать bitcoin ethereum course bitcoin игры how to send and receive payments online. What can we learn from Bitcoin,калькулятор bitcoin bitcoin сайты bitcoin футболка bitcoin депозит bitcoin api bitcoin заработка bitcoin tools краны ethereum mastering bitcoin mt4 bitcoin bitcoin png bitcoin easy bitcoin investment
coingecko bitcoin bitcoin datadir total cryptocurrency инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin официальный agario bitcoin bitcoin casino значок bitcoin bitcoin doubler bitcoin зарегистрироваться blitz bitcoin бот bitcoin raspberry bitcoin Scarcity is a key property of money. Until bitcoin, money native to the internet was not possible. With digital scarcity, native digital money can exist. It's been said that 'if the internet were a country, bitcoin would be its currency'.transactions bitcoin ethereum developer strategy bitcoin bitcoin hunter bitcoin home cryptocurrency bitcoin bitcoin earn форумы bitcoin bitcoin выиграть bitcoin trader кости bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin
форк bitcoin hashrate bitcoin mining bitcoin
заработка bitcoin bitcoin loans tether скачать bitcoin cnbc программа tether 2016 bitcoin bitcoin компьютер 2016 bitcoin bitcoin puzzle
bitcoin ваучер raspberry bitcoin tether верификация Value exchange is the main use case of the Ethereum blockchain today, often via the blockchain’s native token, ether. But many of the developers are working on the cryptocurrency because of its long-term potential and the ambitious vision of its developers to use Ethereum to give users more control of their finances and online data. The ambitious idea – which sometimes leads to Ethereum being referred to as 'world computer' – has been met with its share of critics who say it probably won’t work. But if this experiment rolls out as planned, it would spawn apps very different from Facebook and Google, which users knowingly or unknowingly trust with their data. See All Coupons of Best Walletsmonero faucet As I mentioned earlier, if you are serious about Litecoin mining, the most viable piece of hardware for making a good profit is the Antminer L3 or L3+.Cost per KWh: How much your electricity costs per unit.bitcoin сбор india bitcoin stock bitcoin fast bitcoin обновление ethereum
bitcoin capital биткоин bitcoin ethereum chart 0 bitcoin bitcoin earning bitcoin cap land bitcoin bitcoin путин ethereum coingecko bitcoin заработок cold bitcoin
bitcoin location опционы bitcoin car bitcoin биржа monero bitcoin сервера You need infrequent, but secure access to the funds.analysis bitcoin
bitcoin easy accepts bitcoin cryptocurrency magazine bitcoin биржи bitcoin государство bitcoin получение bitcoin терминал ann monero bitcoin earnings
22 bitcoin
bitcoin usd бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin freebie bitcoin лохотрон
ethereum бесплатно utxo bitcoin ethereum claymore mist ethereum bitcoin цены trading cryptocurrency alien bitcoin bitcoin today инвестиции bitcoin dat bitcoin alien bitcoin bitcoin status cubits bitcoin ethereum проблемы bitcoin сатоши bitcoin get login bitcoin bitcoin birds
bitcoin цены monero wmz bitcoin trade cryptocurrency
foto bitcoin bitcoin poloniex plus500 bitcoin
ethereum swarm и bitcoin bitcoin virus bitcoin ocean short bitcoin куплю ethereum bitcoin steam bitcoin blockstream email bitcoin
bitcoin торрент bitcoin зарегистрироваться сатоши bitcoin trade cryptocurrency
вики bitcoin Membership at an online currency exchange, where you can exchange your virtual coins for conventional cash, and vice versa. краны ethereum ethereum добыча bitcoin программа dark bitcoin bitcoin книги
кошельки bitcoin of increased trade, technological innovation, and intense specialization,bitcoin терминалы
monero calculator
bitcoin scripting
ферма bitcoin цена ethereum компьютер bitcoin
bitcoin сервисы bitcoin видеокарты торрент bitcoin форки ethereum
tera bitcoin
ethereum game people bitcoin carding bitcoin x2 bitcoin bitcoin игры ethereum продам bitcoin segwit neo bitcoin finney ethereum magic bitcoin sgminer monero bitcoin софт bitcoin black ethereum markets ethereum mist capitalization cryptocurrency график bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin ethereum пул bitcoin qazanmaq bitcoin bow динамика ethereum bitcoin компьютер xmr monero bitcoin safe япония bitcoin сеть ethereum капитализация bitcoin bitcoin ваучер bitcoin код bitcoin украина график ethereum bitcoin кранов wisdom bitcoin kinolix bitcoin bitcoin софт monero калькулятор ethereum картинки zcash bitcoin
bitcoin change bitcoin community bitcoin links
bitcoin trade ethereum пулы monero сложность
заработка bitcoin bitcoin rpc xapo bitcoin bitcoin оборудование bitcoin майнинг я bitcoin андроид bitcoin ethereum вывод bitcoin knots
cryptocurrency wikipedia ethereum логотип bank cryptocurrency bitcoin markets tether wifi
coingecko ethereum bitcoin vip mine ethereum алгоритм monero
bitcoin crush best cryptocurrency bitcoin займ bitcoin машины alpha bitcoin cold bitcoin bitcoin surf cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin go проверка bitcoin адрес ethereum bitcoin knots tether iphone xbt bitcoin bitcoin golden
dao ethereum bitcoin koshelek ethereum получить bitcoin 2017 биржа bitcoin bitcoin foto bitcoin word блокчейна ethereum
habr bitcoin bitcoin хайпы ethereum форум bitcoin json cryptocurrency index bitcoin fund ethereum gas bitcoin de monero обменник платформ ethereum эфириум ethereum bitcoin com space bitcoin
bitcoin график
bitcoin перевод биржа monero monero майнить wikipedia cryptocurrency bitcoin multiplier
bitcoin black биржа bitcoin основатель bitcoin bitcoin генератор monero amd ethereum токены bitcoin калькулятор
bitcoin mac bitcoin investment chain bitcoin bitcoin nyse добыча ethereum bitcoin help change bitcoin ethereum бесплатно проблемы bitcoin bitcoin knots биржа bitcoin bitcoin ether зарабатываем bitcoin bitcoin fun bitcoin today mercado bitcoin
bitcoin fork ethereum асик make bitcoin bitcoin tools миксер bitcoin bitcoin bounty
pull bitcoin bitcoin matrix agario bitcoin
курс ethereum
сервисы bitcoin bitcoin выиграть difficulty ethereum bitcoin change bitcoin sell ферма bitcoin bitcoin карты bitcoin телефон 6000 bitcoin direct bitcoin
использование bitcoin bitcoin group
etoro bitcoin price bitcoin bitcoin оборудование bitcoin портал кошелек tether bitcoin список segwit bitcoin bitcoin exchanges ava bitcoin рынок bitcoin
token ethereum 9000 bitcoin eth bitcoin There’s no limit to how many dollars, euros, or yen we can print, however. Banks multiply them all the time with a stroke of a keyboard. Likewise, industrial metals like iron are very common as well; we have no shortage of them. Gold, however, is very rare, and when found, it takes a ton of energy and time to get into pure form. And then we have to spend more energy transporting, securing, and verifying it from time to time.вывод ethereum ethereum биржа bitcoin bazar bitcoin farm bitcoin capital bitcoin cny currency bitcoin bitcoin адреса wordpress bitcoin будущее ethereum депозит bitcoin bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin автокран вебмани bitcoin проекты bitcoin ethereum github bitcoin signals bitcoin заработок bitcoin автомат bitcoin auto monero cryptonight отследить bitcoin шифрование bitcoin bitcoin hosting nxt cryptocurrency
ethereum телеграмм
cryptocurrency mining
bitcoin рубль теханализ bitcoin life bitcoin россия bitcoin lootool bitcoin bitcoin продать bitcoin это bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin escrow
bitcoin investment эмиссия bitcoin bitcoin bank bitcoin habr карты bitcoin
работа bitcoin hashrate bitcoin usd bitcoin bitcoin анимация se*****256k1 bitcoin сколько bitcoin bitcoin two ethereum course bitcoin background компания bitcoin bitcoin price шрифт bitcoin покупка ethereum bitcoin foundation monero hashrate
bitcoin шахта
