What do blockchain forks produce

movard aka · Post by **movard aka** » Fri Mar 28, 2025 9:57 am

atumara · Post by **atumara** » Mon Mar 31, 2025 9:34 am

Blockchain forks produce different outcomes depending on the type of fork. There are two main types of blockchain forks:
1. Soft Fork
A soft fork is a backward-compatible upgrade to the blockchain. It tightens rules but still allows older nodes to recognize new transactions as valid.
Effect: The blockchain remains unified, but older nodes may need to upgrade to take full advantage of the changes.
Example: SegWit (Segregated Witness) on Bitcoin in 2017.

2. Hard Fork
A hard fork is a non-backward-compatible upgrade, meaning the blockchain splits into two separate chains that follow different rules.
Effect: It creates a new, independent cryptocurrency if a portion of the network refuses to upgrade.
Example:
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) from Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) from Ethereum (ETH) in 2016 after the DAO hack.

Other Fork Outcomes:
Chain Split A new blockchain with a different set of rules emerges.
New Coins If the fork leads to a permanent split, holders of the original coin often receive the new coin at a 1:1 ratio.
Protocol Upgrade .In soft forks, the network just updates its rules without splitting.

Are you thinking of investing in forked coins or trying to understand how they affect a blockchain project?