What does a blockchain hard fork mean (forking a blockchain)?

What does a blockchain hard fork mean? What does a blockchain hard fork mean? In simple terms, before upgrading, a blockchain system will undergo some code modifications. However, if a hard fork is carried out without sufficient testing and technical analysis, various errors may occur. In such cases, when new nodes appear in the network, compatibility issues with the new version will arise, resulting in the network being unable to function properly.

Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. They are all controlled by a small group of people. These represent the meaning of a “big block,” meaning that each new block contains different data structures, which means it will result in new rule changes.

Forking a Blockchain

Editor’s note: This article is from Odaily Planet Daily and is authorized to be reprinted.

The forking of a blockchain is an important direction for the development of blockchain technology. A blockchain is a network composed of multiple different parts, some of which are called “chains.” They can be public, private, or mixed-use systems. However, for a specific field, such phenomena may occur in the future. For example, Bitcoin Cash is such a case — when miners decide to send tokens to the network, they must pay fees. If block producers cannot obtain enough funds to support their plans, the transactions will fail. And when users want to use Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for payment or as collateral, additional information is required for the transaction to be completed.

Although there is no consensus in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community regarding this field, it does indicate this point. Bitcoin was initially created in January 2009 and then went through two and a half years of development before gaining popularity at the end of 2013. Now the opposite is happening. However, Bitcoin remains unchanged.

According to data from BitInfoCharts, the total flow in the third quarter of 2017 exceeded $200 million. This trend has increased significantly in the fourth quarter of 2018, leading to a growth rate of more than 70% in the first quarter. It reached a new historical high of nearly 400,000 active addresses at the end of 2017. Since the beginning of 2019, the number of active addresses on Ethereum has increased by about 20 times. In the first five cycles of 2020, an average of about 300,000 new accounts are added per day. (Note: The number of new accounts in March has risen from 90,000 to 120,000)

Although there have been a large number of altcoins in recent weeks, such as ADA, LINK, and EOS, which are mainstream DeFi protocols, most people believe that this is only a temporary rebound.

In the bull market of 2017, the price of Ethereum rose by more than 30%. In the mid-to-late 2018, its price was only slightly below $300, but it has doubled in the following months. However, compared with other competitors, Ethereum is still in its early stages.