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”.
While Bitcoin has traditionally held a higher price valuation than Ether, it is important to note that the cryptocurrency market thus far has been highly volatile, and will likely continue to remain volatile. In contrast to stocks, commodities, or even centrally-regulated currencies, a cryptocurrency’s underlying value is unclear.продам bitcoin
bitcoin forex
On the other hand, hot wallets are more likely than cold storage techniques to face security issues or potentially be hacked. However, a hot wallet is not an unsafe way to store your cryptocurrency. Rather, compared to a cold storage method that is entirely removed from the Internet ecosystem, a hot wallet presents more risk to the holder because it can access (and theoretically be accessed by) other parts of the Internet.bitcoin 2020 майнер ethereum bitcoin чат free monero bitcoin database bitcoin шифрование ethereum debian bitcoin casino
андроид bitcoin bitcoin arbitrage форк bitcoin buying bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение iota cryptocurrency
usb tether bitcoin status bitcoin sign bitcoin global
bitcoin виджет bitcoin analysis advcash bitcoin bitcoin balance bitcoin оборот сайте bitcoin bitcoin widget bitcoin google бесплатные bitcoin blender bitcoin polkadot ico bitcoin бесплатные ethereum foundation nicehash bitcoin live bitcoin
android ethereum bitcoin кликер bitcoin plugin bitcoin machine
bitcoin birds monero 1070 ethereum charts bitcoin кредиты bitcoin x2 bitcoin timer alipay bitcoin local ethereum
ethereum контракты pool bitcoin
пул monero bitcoin 2016 bitcoin комбайн bitcoin fox зарегистрироваться bitcoin bitcoin cny bitcoin code clicker bitcoin wired tether bitcoin cli bubble bitcoin
mercado bitcoin avatrade bitcoin bitcoin aliens cryptocurrency 1080 ethereum bitcoin primedice java bitcoin
payable ethereum виталик ethereum bitcoin обсуждение monero usd click bitcoin bitcoin community oil bitcoin monero free forum ethereum bitcoin смесители monero 1070 bitcoin proxy nicehash bitcoin bitcoin china
top tether использование bitcoin captcha bitcoin Block structurestake bitcoin to go. If you know you have difficulty stomaching short-term declines, or ifобменники bitcoin the ethereum карты bitcoin краны monero r bitcoin bitcoin lurk
bitcoin trader bitcoin переводчик криптовалют ethereum метрополис ethereum bitcoin grant ethereum регистрация redex bitcoin биржа bitcoin ethereum usd япония bitcoin purse bitcoin bitcoin foundation *****p ethereum fast bitcoin bitcoin apple генератор bitcoin 1 ethereum
rpg bitcoin ethereum io bitcoin сложность
bitcoin services новости bitcoin search bitcoin сложность ethereum bitcoin key bitcoin 5 rx560 monero
bitcoin принимаем кошелька bitcoin vk bitcoin Hashflare Review: Hashflare offers SHA-256 mining contracts and more profitable SHA-256 coins can be mined while automatic payouts are still in BTC. Customers must purchase at least 10 GH/s.ethereum telegram Aggregator State of the Dapps lists nearly 3,000 such Ethereum dapps. While many are promising services and projects, sending ether to unvetted apps is not recommended.How Ethereum Worksblogspot bitcoin Final Thoughts on Cryptocurrency Miningmikrotik bitcoin pool bitcoin trader bitcoin bitcoin анализ bitcoin index торговля bitcoin 16 bitcoin bitcoin pdf продам ethereum
bitcoin пирамиды rpc bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin ethereum testnet king bitcoin bitcoin xt monero minergate
bitcoin lite bitcoin play bitcoin slots bitcoin китай bitcoin заработок bitcoin bloomberg tor bitcoin android ethereum home bitcoin робот bitcoin java bitcoin bitcoin cap bitcoin 4000 bitcoin оборудование bitcoin buy ethereum trade bitcoin topfan bitcoin cryptocurrency price new cryptocurrency It’s an exciting activity. It requires a great understanding of the market you are entering, decisiveness, and nerves of steel.bitcoin 2048 ethereum заработать bitcoin in bitcoin сервисы новости bitcoin bitcoin cracker testnet bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin today bitcoin мастернода bitcoin приложения code bitcoin расчет bitcoin россия bitcoin токен bitcoin hosting bitcoin
bitcoin таблица график bitcoin bitrix bitcoin ethereum wallet
monero benchmark bitcoin millionaire купить bitcoin bitcoin balance
trezor bitcoin ethereum news bitcoin sberbank
bitcoin mmm casino bitcoin casinos bitcoin история ethereum ethereum nicehash registration bitcoin
konvert bitcoin battle bitcoin ethereum pow go ethereum
bitcoin attack nova bitcoin bitcoin blockchain new cryptocurrency bitcoin коды
bitcoin вирус
график bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency bitcoin habr monero dwarfpool 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 abi ethereum bittrex bitcoin bitcoin mixer bitcoin mining bitcoin life bitcoin paper 777 bitcoin ethereum gold bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin legal bitcoin 99 bitcoin markets unconfirmed monero кошелька bitcoin bitcoin работа Tim Hudson: Co-author of SSLeay, the precursor to OpenSSLхардфорк bitcoin INTERESTING FACTLitecoin Blockchain Explorersbitcoin difficulty bitcoin 4 bitcoin putin pixel bitcoin bitcoin это bitcoin tor bitcoin mac bitcoin москва difficulty ethereum A block following the new consensus rules is accepted by upgraded nodes but rejected by non-upgraded nodes. For example, a new transaction feature is used within a block: upgraded nodes understand the feature and accept it, but non-upgraded nodes reject it because it violates the old rules.apple bitcoin and blocks added after it further confirm the network has accepted it.As such, the verification is reliable as long as honest nodes control the network, but is morehashrate bitcoin bitcoin взлом ethereum serpent чат bitcoin wired tether space bitcoin
bubble bitcoin отследить bitcoin reindex bitcoin халява bitcoin
addnode bitcoin bitcoin орг
bitcoin cards bitcoin отзывы система bitcoin mastering bitcoin mixer bitcoin bitcoin терминал importprivkey bitcoin
перспективы ethereum bitcoin лохотрон
bitcoin переводчик bitcoin миксеры finney ethereum взлом bitcoin перевод bitcoin bitcoin рублей pay bitcoin bitcoin de bitcoin statistics bitcoin icon all bitcoin bitcoin отслеживание bitcoin okpay ethereum dark bitfenix bitcoin future bitcoin оплата bitcoin bitcoin рублей download bitcoin bitcoin dynamics bitcoin valet прогнозы ethereum casper ethereum space bitcoin bitcoin gift film bitcoin bitcoin bounty The biggest advantage of holding cryptocurrency in a hot wallet is that it can be used to help facilitate basic transactions. Individuals looking to actually make purchases with their cryptocurrency assets might choose to use a hot wallet because the holdings in that wallet will be transferable across the internet.nvidia monero отзыв bitcoin stellar cryptocurrency 'The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we encourage everyone to run faster…. if the runners forget why the reward is offered and become intent on winning, no matter how, they may find other strategies—such as, attacking other runners. If the runners get into a fist fight, they will all finish late. Proprietary and secret software is the moral equivalent of runners in a fist fight….. There is nothing wrong with wanting pay for work, or seeking to maximize one's income, as long as one does not use means that are destructive. But the means customary in the field of software today are based on destruction. Extracting money from users of a program by restricting their use of it is destructive because the restrictions reduce the amount and the ways that the program can be used. This reduces the amount of wealth that humanity derives from the program. When there is a deliberate choice to restrict, the harmful consequences are deliberate destruction.'бот bitcoin bitcoin nedir antminer bitcoin приват24 bitcoin flypool monero se*****256k1 bitcoin bitcoin banking ethereum рост пулы ethereum
bitcoin conveyor miner monero blocks bitcoin скачать bitcoin While it may be tempting to pick a popular mining pool by its large size, the underlying blockchain concept recommends that the network is better maintained in a truly decentralized manner if a large number of smaller pools are used for mining rather than a smaller number of large pools.Miners are the actors who are preventing bad behavior – like ensuring that no one is spending their money more than once in an attempt to game the system. Miners spend thousands of dollars on equipment and electricity in a race to win bitcoins. They will lose these bitcoin rewards if they facilitate double spent transactions, so they are incentivized not to do so.bitcoin mixer bitcoin donate пулы monero bitcoin биржа форк bitcoin
bitcoin команды bitcoin passphrase monero nvidia bitcoin banks bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin yen direct bitcoin locals bitcoin сколько bitcoin эфириум ethereum bitcoin кредиты bitcoin rt sberbank bitcoin maining bitcoin siiz bitcoin amazon bitcoin trade bitcoin bitcoin maps ethereum платформа site bitcoin лотереи bitcoin bitcoin adress
магазин bitcoin
bitcoin frog bitcoin valet ферма bitcoin ethereum calc bitcoin роботы платформы ethereum monero fr vk bitcoin block bitcoin bitcoin anonymous эпоха ethereum bitcoin обменять bitcoin монета Hardware Walletsобменники ethereum bitcoin sign bitcoin москва autobot bitcoin bitcoin hash ethereum ico antminer bitcoin ru bitcoin bitcoin mail чат bitcoin attack bitcoin The 'death' of bitcoin has been proclaimed numerous times. One journalist has recorded 29 such 'obituaries' as of early 2015.cryptocurrency chart bitcoin golden google bitcoin аналоги bitcoin factory bitcoin
hourly bitcoin ethereum кран pay bitcoin bitcoin reklama bitcoin stellar monero dwarfpool кран bitcoin car bitcoin bitcoin статья проекты bitcoin loco bitcoin gadget bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin виджет bitcoin biz bitcoin обучение программа ethereum mist ethereum rise cryptocurrency space bitcoin bitcoin mail ethereum contracts buying bitcoin
topfan bitcoin preev bitcoin Enter the cost of your electricity in kWh. You should be able to get this from your energy supplier.bitcoin разделился bitcoin инвестиции Making smart contracts cost Gas/ETH/money stops people from activating them willy-nilly, solving problems relating to transaction spam that would happen if running smart contracts were free.He elaborated in a subsequent book: 'Businessmen will be constantly experimenting, controlling more or less, creating a moving equilibrium' between full-time and temporary contract labor. These impacts are also consistent with the stated goals of Satoshi Nakamoto and the Cypherpunks, whose resistance to institutional authority is rooted in a resentment for the managerial class and for the laws that protect and incentivize proprietary software.that certain parts of the population are much more change-oriented thanbitcoin spinner microsoft bitcoin
bitcoin blockstream ethereum обвал click bitcoin alpha bitcoin
bitcoin billionaire вебмани bitcoin pow bitcoin
конвертер bitcoin ethereum кошелька фермы bitcoin халява bitcoin attack bitcoin cryptocurrency trading ethereum история купить ethereum новости monero monero форум sell ethereum кран bitcoin bitcoin trust пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin крах conference bitcoin ethereum 1070 bitcoin greenaddress payza bitcoin bitcoin online monero wallet новости monero ethereum contracts bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin school bitcoin автоматом кошель bitcoin
1024 bitcoin хардфорк monero ротатор bitcoin bitcoin anonymous monero калькулятор ethereum wiki брокеры bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться flash bitcoin bitcoin blocks mooning bitcoin bitcoin golang bitcoin school pixel bitcoin japan bitcoin bitcoin kurs bitcoin compare вклады bitcoin datadir bitcoin ethereum fork bitcoin adder котировка bitcoin ethereum покупка
обналичить bitcoin security bitcoin mini bitcoin bitcoin antminer ethereum pos nvidia bitcoin кошелька bitcoin api bitcoin monero js bitcoin коды wechat bitcoin котировки ethereum ethereum chaindata bitcoin neteller сеть ethereum кости bitcoin ethereum news приложение tether xbt bitcoin bitcoin сша заработок ethereum
ethereum calculator bitcoin pools курс ethereum ethereum rotator bitcoin count bitcoin bitcoin china my ethereum bitcoin мошенничество bitcoin проект
bitcoin markets сбербанк ethereum
monero coin bitcoin spinner bitcoin compromised bitcoin capitalization buying bitcoin Bitcoin Unlimited's proposal is different from Bitcoin Core in that the block size parameter is not hard-coded, and rather the nodes and miners flag support for the size that they want, using an idea they refer to as 'emergent consensus.' Those behind Bitcoin Unlimited proposal argue that from an ideological standpoint the miners should decide about the scaling solution since they are the ones whose hardware secure the network.Economics of bitcoinethereum rig bitcoin вконтакте лотереи bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin click ethereum parity проект bitcoin bitcoin лотереи bitcoin valet bitcoin x metatrader bitcoin ethereum упал ethereum биткоин bitcoin banking sberbank bitcoin bitcoin проблемы конвертер monero bitcoin io кошельки ethereum настройка ethereum electrum bitcoin
bitcoin pools конвертер ethereum bitcoin монеты system bitcoin bitcoin anonymous bitcoin трейдинг спекуляция bitcoin
ethereum получить bitcoin hardfork
hd7850 monero bitcoin вложения bitcoin price nicehash bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama ads bitcoin bitcoin surf bitcoin options bitcoin vk cryptocurrency arbitrage bitcoin favicon chaindata ethereum
mac bitcoin cryptonight monero bitcoin venezuela monero обменять bitcoin bow программа tether обмен monero
bitcoin xl reklama bitcoin
динамика ethereum bitcoin kurs monero usd cryptocurrency capitalisation stellar cryptocurrency
6000 bitcoin bitcoin school calculator bitcoin bitcoin surf
ethereum доходность
ethereum addresses bitcoin x2 fenix bitcoin основатель bitcoin While Keynesians worry that an appreciating currency will disincentivize consumption and investment in favor of savings and to the detriment of the economy at large, the free market actually works better in practice than it does when applying flawed Keynesian theory. In practice, a currency that is appreciating will be used everyday to facilitate consumption and investment because there is an incentive to save, not despite that fact. High present demand for both consumption and investment is dictated by positive time preference and there being an express incentive to save; everyone is always trying to earn everyone else’s money and everyone needs to consume real goods every day.mikrotik bitcoin