{"id":14947,"date":"2022-05-02T10:55:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T05:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/?p=14947"},"modified":"2022-07-25T12:29:23","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T12:29:23","slug":"hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained","title":{"rendered":"Hard Fork And Soft Fork Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_66_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained\/#What_is_a_fork\" title=\"What is a fork?\">What is a fork?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained\/#Significance_of_forks\" title=\"Significance of forks\">Significance of forks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained\/#Types_of_forks\" title=\"Types of forks\">Types of forks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained\/#History_of_important_forks_in_Bitcoin_And_Ethereum\" title=\"History of important forks in Bitcoin And Ethereum\">History of important forks in Bitcoin And Ethereum<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/hard-fork-and-soft-fork-explained\/#Take_away\" title=\"Take away\">Take away<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>The software revolution has come a long way. Today, an entire crypto industry is based upon sheer technology and advanced computation. Software updates are an integral part of this revolution and so are blockchains as well. All such updates are called \u201cforks\u201d, and to know more about forks, keep reading on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-a-fork\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_fork\"><\/span>What is a fork?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A fork, in its literal sense, refers to a split from an origin. Fungible tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum are powered by blockchain networks, wherein all the transactions involved with the tokens are recorded and secured using cryptographic programs. Blockchains are collectives of data blocks that are managed using protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, a fork occurs when there is a change in the protocol, i.e., when a software update takes place. It splits the blockchain into two chains, one of which is the updated one with a different set of protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-significance-of-forks\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Significance_of_forks\"><\/span>Significance of forks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Blockchains, being open-source technologies, are exposed to cyber threats while they depend on their communities to develop and secure the underlying codes. However, the updation of the to its latest security patch is done to ensure a significant improvement in features as well as deliver better protection from malware and bugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, when a fork happens, it adds more features to a crypto or gives it a new security update code. Sometimes, we can use a fork to create completely new tokens and networks. Even when two miners are using the same block simultaneously, a temporary block happens for ease of operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-types-of-forks\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Types_of_forks\"><\/span>Types of forks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are broadly two types of forks possible in blockchain technology, and they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Soft fork<\/strong> &#8211; A soft fork acts as a software up-gradation in the blockchain, where new features or functions are added to each node. All the nodes connected to a blockchain must accept a set of new protocols but remain in a single chain. This fork is compatible with older pre-existing blocks and does not make older blocks invalid in the process.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, when we receive an OS update notification on our phones, even if we don\u2019t update it immediately, the phone doesn&#8217;t stop working. After we update the OS, the apps with an older version still work fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Hard fork<\/strong> &#8211; A hard fork refers to a non-backward compatible up-gradation that makes older blocks and transactions invalid in a blockchain, thus creating a new chain alongside the existing old chain. The hard fork is used to create new tokens or new protocols while letting the older version continue as a separate blockchain.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, when WhatsApp messenger asks us to update our current version, it gives us a probation period within which we are supposed to adapt to the new version. After the version expires, our messages do not open, i.e., there is an interruption of the previous version which is taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-history-of-important-forks-in-bitcoin-and-ethereum\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"History_of_important_forks_in_Bitcoin_And_Ethereum\"><\/span>History of important forks in Bitcoin And Ethereum<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Forks are overall the same in all crypto-platforms. So, the forks on a blockchain would not be different from those on cryptos. Bitcoin and Ethereum are examples of the oldest cryptos which underwent hard forks and soft forks in their mining networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bitcoin went through significant hard forks, which resulted in the new blockchains derived from the same name. Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin Cash are derived from the original Bitcoin blockchain using forking. While Bitcoin Gold focuses on making the blockchain more decentralised and secure, Bitcoin Cash was created to increase transaction speed in the Bitcoin blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ethereum blockchain is primarily funded by its native coin, Ether, but is regulated by smart contracts. These contracts are human-coded protocols fed to the computers to maintain an automatic balance in the blockchain transactions without manually doing them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It saw its first fork as the Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (<a href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/blog\/what-is-dao\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DAO<\/a>), but it was hacked as the users witnessed a real-time money-draining by an anonymous hacker. After this, the blockchain saw its most significant upgrade on 5th August 2021, which aimed at making \u201cmining\u201d comparatively harder and fee structures more predictable. This was done to undo the error code in DAO and pull all the drained money locked up in a smart contract securely again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-take-away\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Take_away\"><\/span>Take away<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There could be a possible occurrence of accidental forks. Hard forks and soft forks are important in making changes or bringing new upgrades to a blockchain for better management. Temporary forks can also be used in crowd management and easing network congestion. Apart from the security updates and new product creation, forks can also reverse transactions in case of a fraud or protocol breach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Planning to invest in Cryptos? Wait no more and start trading on <a href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zebpay<\/a> \u2013 Australia\u2019s best crypto exchange.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The software revolution has come a long way. Today, an entire crypto industry is based upon sheer technology and advanced computation. Software updates are an integral part of this revolution and so are blockchains as well. All such updates are called \u201cforks\u201d, and to know more about forks, keep reading on: What is a fork? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18633,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947\/revisions\/18633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}