What is Fork (Blockchain)?
Let's find out Fork (Blockchain) meaning, definition in crypto, what is Fork (Blockchain), and all other detailed facts.
A fork happens when two different versions of blockchain appear due to a split that occurs. Since a blockchain network is open-source, everyone can make changes to the code, which usually results in blockchain updates. Forks can also be used to enable new features, eliminate bugs, or address the effects of major hacking.
In addition, a fork can happen when the software updates of miners don’t align with each other. In this case, the mining community should pick one of the blockchain paths to continue mining. Though if for some reason they cannot come to a unanimous decision, there will simply be two different versions of the blockchain. The extent to which blockchain will be altered depends on whether a hard fork or a soft fork occurred.
A soft fork is the addition of a new backward-compatible rule to the protocol that will not clash with older rules. This means that non-upgraded nodes will successfully communicate with upgraded nods. This change is not dramatic because new blocks will still be recognized by old nodes.
A hard fork, on the other hand, is a massive change to the protocol that could result in the creation of new digital currencies. For instance, when the Bitcoin blockchain split into two, Bitcoin Cash was created.
The changes that happen during a hard fork are permanent and not backward compatible meaning that all nodes must be upgraded because the old version of the software will not work with the new one. The new version of blockchain appears after the hard fork, creating its own transactions and blocks.