Fork

A change to protocol rules that splits or upgrades a chain.

Blockchain Technology Also called hard fork, soft fork, forked

A soft fork tightens the rules so upgraded and non-upgraded nodes still agree on one chain. A hard fork loosens or changes them incompatibly, so nodes that refuse the upgrade follow a separate chain.

Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic both exist because of contested hard forks. Forks are the clearest expression of how blockchain governance actually resolves.

Related terms

Mining & Consensus

Consensus Mechanism

The rulebook a decentralised network uses to agree on one shared version of history.

NFTs & Web3

DAO

An organisation run by token-holder votes executed through smart contracts.

Blockchain Technology

Node

A computer running blockchain software that stores and verifies the ledger.

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