There are a lot of phenomena that are associated with digital currency and its operations. The operations of cryptocurrency start right from their generation from the blockchain and go to the far side before its withdrawal. The process involved with cryptocurrencies is thus far and wide. A layman may think that there is nothing fun associated with the crypto wallet but it should be noticed that the process is phenomenal and the trends of the market are fantastic in their way. Cryptocurrencies have a unique process that is associated with them. The name of that phenomenon is forking or simply fork. If you are unaware of the process, what actually forking means, and its types you have just landed yourselves at the right place or simply visit this site https://immediatebitcoin.org/. This is surely going to help you on every front as far as the process of forking is involved as well as cryptocurrency means.
What is a fork?
In a smartphone when a new update comes it often comes with a package that has several advanced features in comparison to the previous one. The only drawback of the smartphone update is that you cannot go back to the previous version as soon as you update to the new version of it. In simple terms, forking is that update that works for the crypto platforms with the benefit of making it a backward pass enabled feature or without it. Thus, fork can be referred to as a modern name for the process of updating. Thus, in simple terms when we update some protocols associated with our cryptocurrency the process is referred to as forking or simply fork. Forking helps simultaneous running of blockchains, mostly two in number.
Types of forks
As discussed earlier we are clear that the process of a fork is backwards compatible or incompatible. So depending on this the process of the fork can be divided into two types that is a soft fork or a hard fork.
Hard fork
A fork involves updating old protocols and adopting new protocols in place of it. In a hard fork, the old rules that were once operational are destroyed and the new rules are operational from the time when they are installed. This is also considered a permanent fork and requires every member on a node to upgrade to that particular newest version of protocols. As this is non-backwards compatible so once initiated cannot be returned to basics. This type of fork is required when the core rules need to be changed. A perfect example of a hard fork is Bitcoin which has undergone many hard forks since its inception.
Soft fork
Opposite to the hard fork wherein the old rules are completely over rules, the soft fork retains the previous rules and makes it a backward compatible fork. Being reversible it does not need every user on a node to update the versions. The miners that are associated with the chain are required to upgrade in maximum number to get this change into operation.
Reasons for a fork to happen
There are many reasons why fork happens; the prime is the adoption of new rules and regulations. Another reason is the division in other communities. As blockchain always is dynamic and prone to changes so there cannot be a stagnation in the updation of the rules of the blockchain. So to keep up with the change fork is done. Now, the decision to fork whether it is hard or fork is taken before deciding that there is a need to keep old protocols or not. When there is a need, soft fork is done and when not the hard fork is followed.
