Hello everyone,
I'm @kemal13 who took crypto academy class from prof. @awesononso regarding Blockchain Fork. Here's my explanation. Happy reading.
- What is Fork? (In your own Words)
I think the fork that occurs in cryptocurrencies is a blockchain split that occurs on different paths. It is also used in protocols that operate with PoS (Proof of Stake), PoW (Proof of Work). This greatly affects the creation of new branches. Cryptocurrencies are considered the Fork because everything is based on the same algorithm as bitcoin.
- Explain in details what a Hard Fork is with examples (Can be of any blockchain).
Hard Fork is a situation where the crypto unit is divided into two parts, namely the cryptocurrency or crypto unit that can be changed so that it will produce a new code and an old code where these two codes will not be compatible with each other.
Hard Fork is also an update of backwards incompatible software. This generally occurs when a node adds a new rule in a way that conflicts with the old node. As a result the blockchain is split into two networks, one with the old rules, the other with the new rules.
- Example of Hard Fork
One example that has done a hard fork is Ethereum, where this hard fork was generated by Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Both are already on a different server code network so users cannot send Ethereum to the Ethereum Classic network and this is also true for the other way around.
- Explain in details what a Soft Fork is with examples (Can be of any blockchain).
Soft Fork is a backward compatible upgrade which means that upgraded nodes can still communicate with non-upgraded nodes. Usually you will see in the soft fork the addition of new rules that do not conflict with the old rules. It does not automatically disconnect you from the network. You can still communicate with nodes that don't enforce those rules and you can filter out some of the information they give you.
- Example of Hard Fork
An example for this Soft Fork is SegWit or known as Segregated Witness. SegWit is an update that changes block and transaction formats but is cleverly crafted. Legacy nodes will still be able to validate blocks and transactions but will not be able to understand them.
- What are the differences between Hard Forks and Soft Forks?
| Hard Fork | Soft Fork |
|---|---|
| Rules are getting lax (Ex:1MB -> 2MB) | The rules are getting stricter (Ex:1MB -> 0.5MB) |
| The new protocol is no longer compatible with the old protocol | The new protocol is still compatible with the old protocol |
| Old nodes don't receive new blocks | Old nodes receive new blocks |
- Explain the following Bitcoin Forks and explore the blockchain where necessary. Indicate if they are hard forks or soft forks;
- Bitcoin Cash
- Segregated Witnesses
Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin which has been separated from it since 2017. Doing this will increase the size of the block so as to provide more room for transactions. Thus it improves scalability and this coin is believed to be the most successful Hard Fork of the original protocol.
BTC Genesis Block Screenshot
and this is BCH Genesis Block Screenshot
From the two data we can see that there are similarities in the data and this can verify that Bitcoin is separate from Bitcoin Cash.
SegWit (Segregated Witness)
SegWit is also a fork of bitcoin and has been in development since 2015. It is a Soft Fork that does not separate the original protocol for creating new blocks. It is also designed to reduce the block transaction size and consequent effect to allow multiple transactions to occur at once.
- Write on the Steem and Hive Hard fork and show similarities in their Genesis Blocks(Provide screenshots).
Hard Forks that occurred on Steem and Hive cannot be combined because there is no agreement on the Steem Blockchain. A few months ago it happened between the two so that it didn't bring up the same Hard Fork at the same time. This is because Steem combines the TRX protocol. As a result, there was a split between the camps.
The result of this causes the separation of Steem then when a Steem Hard Fork occurs which raises Hive. Indeed Hive is separate from Steem Blockchain but both have the same history. As a result of their second division, they have similar Genesis Blocks.
| Steemit | HIVE |
|---|---|
 |  |
Let's see the block genesis from Steem :
Go to site https://steemworld.org/ and choose "Block Explorer"
and Then click OK at Block 1, wait for a while....
you can see information about Steem
and now let's see HIVE Genesis Block
Go to site https://hiveblocks.com/ and at boxfield search block 1
From the data above, we can see that both of them have the same block because they were on the same network
CONCLUSION
System updates will continue to occur over time and this is the goal for updates that occur on the blockchain. Every blockchain update that occurs will continue to supply every need it has, that's what the Fork is used for on the Blockchain. Because it helps the system and keeps it working properly.
Thank you for reading.
Hello @kemal13,
Thank you for taking interest in this class. Your grades are as follows:
Feedback and Suggestions
You really should put more effort in understanding the topic before trying to do research.
There are some missing facts on the topic.
Thanks again as we anticipate your participation in the next class.
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On twitter : https://twitter.com/kemal13steem/status/1418061935338164224
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