What does the snapshot time of a fork mean (What does it mean that there is a fork)?

What does the snapshot time of a fork mean? According to the data from the blockchain browser Bithomp, the snapshot time of a fork occurs after 2 months. Specifically, it refers to the occurrence of the fork the day before or within 3 to 4 days. In other words, if a fork is not conducted in advance, a hard fork is likely to occur.

During a hard fork, users can use “transaction is transfer” or “block confirmation” to indicate it. However, this process requires a specific time and conditions, usually within 1 hour to ensure the security of users’ assets. However, this situation does not exist because no new tokens or projects will appear on the network. Therefore, users can deposit their funds into exchanges without increasing fees and without taking any risks. On the contrary, they can decide who will receive which fork through “off-chain voting”.

What does it mean that there is a fork?

What does it mean that there is a fork? Bitcoin was already hard forked into “blocks” in 2013, meaning that the two largest projects on the blockchain at that time were Bitcoin and Ethereum. And the code of these projects was controlled and owned by Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum.

But this situation is different from what happened for the first time. On November 17, 2018, a person called “TheDao” tweeted that they were developing a new application called Coinbase, which uses Ether (ETH) for transactions. In mid-January 2020, they launched a brand new cryptocurrency exchange called CoinbasePro. In early 2021, they started operating a new cryptocurrency trading platform called CoinbasePro.

What happened this time? The meaning of a fork is that it changes the original rules and fundamentally changes a key part of the protocol, the consensus algorithm. This change will make every node in the system become a new entity or new network participant. “If there is no such function or mechanism, a new split will occur.” Therefore, “we need a hard fork to achieve an upgrade”.

What is a divergence? Simply put, a divergence is a special behavior. When a blockchain has two different types, people contradict each other and try to reach a consensus. For example, when a certain chain has some problems that cause certain chains to collapse. This is the reason for the lack of interoperability between two blockchains. Therefore, after a divergence occurs, there will be sharding, forking, etc.

A divergence is not simply the result of solving a problem, but is the result of technological progress rather than other factors. For example, a smart contract can customize specific applications according to its own needs. However, the way it is executed may not be the same for all users. On the contrary, when smart contracts become more complex, they may create new tokens/assets and various use cases such as payments.

Why adopt such an approach? Because the consensus of most blockchains is built on open-source software, anyone can create a new blockchain. This is a long-term work that must be completed and verified, and it must comply with national regulations. Therefore, if someone is willing to accept this requirement, they can start a layered architecture and let a part of all existing systems run in a decentralized manner. Of course, this may also include companies that want to establish the next generation of blockchains in the future.