Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#2691

1.Soft come from valid block to invalid,and hard from invalid to valid.
2.Clear and democratic.
3.Split hash power and split chain.

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#2692

1.expansion and contraction of consensus rule set leads to forks that are called hardforks and softforks.
the main difference bettwen them:
hard fork makes previous invalid blocks valid (expansion)
soft fork makes previous valid blocks invalid (contraction)
2.expand in consensus rule set by democratic way and add a new coin
3.lower security as a result of hash power splits chain and separates
the community :scream: :triumph: :rage:

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#2693

1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
softfork: previously valid blocks will be invalid after update
hardfork: previously invalid blocks will be valid after update
2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
strict separation of the rule sets and communities, clear democratic process
3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
hash rate is also divided, this makes the networks less safe than before

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#2694

  1. hard forks: expend the consensus
    soft fork: contracted the consensus

  2. it show a clear updates of the consensus and it is mostly democratic,
    you can create a new currency

  3. split the hash power therefore the security.

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#2695 
What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

A hard fork makes invalid transactions valid
A soft fork makes valid transaction invalid

What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?

If you needed to expand the rule set. Increase the block size for instance

What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?

You could split the chain completely, losing hash power as it would split between the old chain and the new chain.

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#2696

Difference: A soft fork is an update to the ruleset that reduces the number of blocks that are valid, while a soft fork update increases the number of blocks that will be treated as valid.

Reasons: Maybe to fix a bug, or add a feature. A hard fork wouldn’t cause a split if a majority of the nodes updated simultaneously. A hard fork update enables you to split a chain - create a new coin while keeping all previous transactions in the chain as was done with bitcoin cash. At the time, everyone with btc also had btc cash, which was a bonus marketing idea.

Risks: A hard fork update could split the chain, essentially isolating miners that didn’t update which could make them a target for an attack (not sure how that would work).

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#2697

Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A practical way to think about the difference between soft fork and hard fork is to think of the soft fork as a contraction of the set of rules, and think of the hard fork as an expansion of the set of rules. Another way of thinking about the difference between softfork and hardfork is to think of them in terms of consensus. Basically, a hardfork is “hard” because the update requires that 100% of network participation to avoid the fork. If 100% of the network doesn’t get on board with the update, a fork is created and a portion of the network continues to build a chain with the old rule set, while the main chain continues to be built on simultaneously. This leads to a splitting of the community, the creation of a new currency, and splitting of the chain that can compromise security due to a splitting of the hashpower. The soft fork only requires the majority of consensus (51%) in order to force the entire network to update, thereby getting rid of the fork with time.
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Some reasons may include the creation of a new currency, or a refusal to continue building blocks on the main chain because of a disagreement with the nature of the update.
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    The risks are that the hashpower of the network is split, thereby compromising security of the network. The community split is also an undesirable element of the network because of the potential to compromise security due to competing enterprises.
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#2698

1, The difference between a hard and soft fork is the idea of opposition. In that a hard fork makes a previously invalid block valid and soft fork makes a previously valid block invalid.

  1. A hard fork would be used if there is a change in concensus, or the rules of the network were changed.

  2. Some risks with performing a hardfork are that hash power split, split community agreement, and split chain.

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#2699

What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
A soft fork decreases the rule set and makes previously valid blocks invalid. A hard fork update is an expansion of the rule set and makes previously invalid blocks now valid.

What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
to expand the consensus rules and make new currencies

What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
Some of the risks are that it splits the chain, splits the community, and splits the hashpower which reduces security.

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#2700
  1. A hard fork will split the chain and split the community. A soft fork typically will not (once >50% of nodes update)
  2. Sometimes an expansion of the protocol is necessary. If technical reasons require it, or in some cases (such as a hacked network) a fork in the protocol is actually desirable.
  3. The risks of a hard fork are the adoption rate. If people don’t adopt the changes, the changes won’t become distributed and the fork will fail.
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#2701
  1. soft forks make previosly valid blocks invalid and hard forks make previously invalid blocks valid.
  2. increase the block size and Tx’s. saving time power and costs.
  3. Split hash power, less secure network, split community.
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#2702
  1. Softforks are previously valid blocks that are made invalid. Hardfork is when previously invalid blocks become valid.
  2. If a consensus needed to be changed.
  3. It could split with the community, if they don’t agreeing on the changes and could lower the security.
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#2703
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A softfork makes previously valid blocks invalid.
    A hardfork makes previously invalid blocks valid.
    So, a softfork constricts the rules and a hardfork expands them.

Of all the possible blockchains, a particular node will accept the blockchain with correct rules that has the most proof of work.

In the case of a hardfork, if only a minority of nodes update, the update will fail. This is because the updated nodes will still accept unupdated blocks, but the unupdated blockchain will always be longer. If the majority of nodes update, then there will be a fork, because the unupdated blocks will not accept the new blockchain no matter how much more proof of work it has.
In the case of a softfork, if only a minority of nodes update, there will be a fork, since the updated nodes will not accept unupdated blocks. However, if the majority of nodes update, those that do not update will be forced to follow the rules anyway, since the updated blockchain will be longer, and the update is accepted by all parties.

  1. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Isn’t the issue of doing a hardfork or a softfork more dependent on the type of issue you want to solve, rather than whether it will produce a hard or soft fork? If somehow you were able to solve a particular issue either by softfork or hardfork (I’m not sure how that would be possible), then a hardfork would give people a clear choice on whether to accept the update or not, and the update would have no effect until the majority of people accepted it.

  2. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    If not everyone accepts the update, the community will be split.

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#2704

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A hardfork expands the rules while a softfork contracts the rules. Hardforks require miners to pick the old or new rules. Softforks would get become easily adopted with greater than 51% miner community accepting the new rules.

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork? If the miner community is disagreeing about a certain expansion of a rule. The hardfork would force them to pick one of the protocols.

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    The miner community is splintered causing a reduction in hash power. The reduction in hash power reduces the security of the network.

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#2705
  1. Softfork you contract the ruleset and the opposite is true with a hardfork.
  2. Ex Bitcoin Cash can transfer blocks faster than BTC, so add features that weren’t in the original consensusguide.
  3. You split the hashrate which makes it less secure and you split the community which hinders or slows adoption.
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#2706

  1. Hard forks expand a rule set making invalid blocks valid while soft forks shrink the rule set and make previously valid blocks invalid.

  2. Hard forks in block chain occur when an update in the network increases block size for miners finding two different blocks at the same block height, which then creates a hard fork until 100% of the nodes on the network update and reach consensus on the correct chain.

  3. The risks from a hard fork are split chain, split community and split hash power, which then decreases security on the network as the network splits at the hard fork until consensus has been reached.

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#2707
  1. Softfork is coming from an update that makes previously valid blocks invalid, and hard fork comes from an update that makes previously invalid blocks valid.
  2. consensus change
  3. Split chain
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#2708
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

Hard fork happens when consensus rules are expanded
Soft fork happens when consensus rules are contracted.

  1. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hard fork?

You would do a hard fork when opinions of the community clash about an update.

  1. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?

Split of the community as well as hash power which reduces security of the network.

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#2709
  1. A hardfork is an expansion fork that makes a change that makes previously invalid blocks valid by expanding the rules and could split the chain into two currencies. A softfork is a contracting fork that no longer accepts blocks that were once valid and do not split the chains or communities, but is less democratic.
  2. You want to force an update on the protocol to improve the code or fix bugs.
  3. The community could split. A new currency could be created if the community splits, which could be good or bad.
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#2710

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    The hardfork makes previously invalid blocks valid, it’s an expansion of ruleset.
    The softfork makes previously valid blocks invalid, it’s a contraction of ruleset

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    -Something needs to be updated to improve the network.
    -There is a split in the community and part of it wants a different asset and separate chain.

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    The risk would be a decrease in hashing power which means the less secure network.

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