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Science-Technology Title: Mapping All The Major Bitcoin Forks Mapping All The Major Bitcoin Forks by Tyler Durden The emergence of Bitcoin took the world by storm through its simplicity and innovation. Yet, as Visual Capitalist's Ashley Viens details, plenty of confusion remains around the term itself. The Bitcoin blockchain - not to be confused with the bitcoin cryptocurrency - involves a vast global network of computers operating on the same distributed database to process massive volumes of data every second. These transactions tell the network how to alter this distributed database in real-time, which makes it crucial for everyone to agree on how these changes should be applied. When the community cant come to a mutual agreement on what changes, or when such rule changes should take effect, it results in a blockchain fork. Todays unique subway-style map by Bitcoin Magazine shows the dramatic and major forks that have occurred for Bitcoin. But what exactly is a Blockchain fork? Forks are common practice in the software industry and happen for one of two reasons: Split consensus within the community Changes to the underlying rules of the blockchain There are four major types of forks that can occur: Soft forks are like gradual software upgradesbug fixes, security checks, and new featuresfor those that upgrade right away. These forks are backwards compatible with the older software; users who havent upgraded still have access to the network but may not be able to use all functionality in the current version. Hard forks are like a new OS releaseupgrading is mandatory to continue using the software. Because of this, hard forks arent compatible with older versions of the network. Hard forks are a permanent division of the blockchain. As long as enough people support both chains, however, they will both continue to exist. The three types of hard forks are: Planned Contentious Spin-off Coins Codebase forks copy the Bitcoin code, allowing developers to make minor tweaks without having to develop the entire blockchain code from scratch. Codebase forks can create a new cryptocurrency or cause unintentional blockchain forks. Blockchain forks involve branching or splitting a blockchains whole transaction history. Outcomes range from orphan blocks to new cryptocurrencies. Splitting off the Bitcoin network to form a new currency is much like a religious schism - while most of the characteristics and history are preserved, a fork causes the new network to develop a distinct identity. Descriptions of major forks that have occurred in the Bitcoin blockchain: Bitcoin / Bitcoin Core BTC1 Bitcoin ABC Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, Other Fork Coins Some of the above forks were largely driven by ideology (BTC1), some because of mixed consensus on which direction to take a hard fork (Bitcoin ABC), while others were mainly profit-driven (Bitcoin Clashic)or a mix of all three. Forks are considered an inevitability in the blockchain community. Many believe that forks help ensure that everyone involveddevelopers, miners, and investorsall have a say when disagreements occur. Bitcoin has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Crypto investors should be aware that Bitcoin, as both a protocol and a currency, is complex and always evolving. Even among experts, there is disagreement on what constitutes a soft or hard fork, and how certain geopolitical events have played a role in Bitcoins evolution.
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#2. To: nolu chan (#0)
Some interesting background info here that I hadn't come across before. I have grown more interested in bitcoin, even bought a little recently. The exchange rate is too high. Like 7.5%
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