What Does Forking Mean in Blockchain?

Introduction

Blockchain technology is a revolutionary technology that provides security and transparency for decentralized digital transactions. However, during the evolution of blockchain, there may be the phenomenon of so-called "forking". This article will introduce the forking in blockchain, as well as the concepts of soft forks and hard forks.

Forking in Blockchain:

Forking in blockchain refers to an upgrade or divergence in the blockchain network, similar to the process of a tree branch forking, where the originally continuous blockchain data is divided into two different chains. This process typically involves changes or upgrades to the blockchain protocol rules among nodes and miners in the network, leading to two main types of forks: soft forks and hard forks.

Hard Fork:

A hard fork is a major protocol upgrade that introduces rules and protocol changes that are not compatible with the old rules. This results in nodes following the new rules being unable to interact with nodes following the old rules, leading to two completely different blockchains. Hard forks typically require widespread consensus and community support, as nodes must upgrade to support the new rules. Without sufficient support or in cases of dispute, this can result in a split where one branch gains more support, while the other branch gradually diminishes.

Example: A prominent example is the Bitcoin hard fork, which resulted in two different blockchains, Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Soft Fork:

A soft fork is a protocol upgrade that introduces backward-compatible rule changes. This means that nodes following the new rules can coexist with nodes following the old rules, without splitting into two different chains. A typical soft fork is a relatively gentle change, where nodes following the old rules do not need to upgrade, but nodes following the new rules need to gain majority support in the network. This ensures a smooth protocol upgrade but often requires more time to gain widespread support in the network.

Example: An example is the Segregated Witness (SegWit) soft fork in Bitcoin, which is a rule upgrade to improve transaction processing capacity.

When facing blockchain forks, it is important to understand the differences between soft forks and hard forks to better address this phenomenon in the evolution of the technology. Whether it is a soft fork or a hard fork, both represent decisions and evolution within the blockchain community. They are part of the development in this technology field and pathways for innovation and improvement. Both soft forks and hard forks require widespread consensus and community support to ensure the stability and continuous development of the blockchain network. In the future, we will continue to encounter forking phenomena, which will drive the blockchain technology to become more mature and adaptive to the increasingly complex digital economy.