What is the difference between a hard fork and a soft fork in the context of Bitcoin?

1 answers

• Dec 17, 2021 · 3 years ago
  From a third-party perspective, a hard fork in the context of Bitcoin is a significant change to the protocol that creates a new version of the blockchain. This new version is not compatible with the previous version, which means that nodes running the old version will not be able to validate blocks created by nodes running the new version. This can result in a split in the blockchain and the creation of a new cryptocurrency. Examples of hard forks in Bitcoin include Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. On the other hand, a soft fork is a backward-compatible upgrade to the protocol. This means that nodes running the old version can still validate blocks created by nodes running the new version. Soft forks typically introduce new features or improvements to the network without causing a split in the blockchain or the creation of a new cryptocurrency. In summary, the main difference between a hard fork and a soft fork is the level of compatibility with the previous version of the protocol and the potential impact on the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
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