Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#4354

1.Hard fork makes invalid blocks becomes valid it is expansion whereas soft fork makes valid blocks invalid it is contraction
2.Because it expands block which helps to get desired outcome
3.Split community,reducing hash power

1 Like
#4355
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A. A hard fork is an update where previously invalid blocks are valid and a soft fork is an update where previous valid blocks are invalid.
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    A. To force a change in consensus.
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    A. You split the community and risk reducing security.
    A. Reduce hash power.
1 Like
#4356

  1. Hard fork makes invalid blocks valid and Soft fork makes previously valid blocks invalid

  2. A change in vision and consensus.

  3. the security becomes weaker and it can also split the community

2 Likes
#4357

  1. Whether they make prev. valid/invalid blocks now invalid/valid.

  2. You don’t agree with the current rule set. A hard fork creates a separate chain.

  3. When you split the chain and thereby community. You also split the hashpower, which is what is essentially driving the blockchain.

1 Like
#4358

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    Hardfork makes previously invalid blocks valid. It remains as a different chain - different coin
    Soft fork is accidental and it goes away when all the nodes switch to new rules

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Differences in consensus as to what characteristics the coin should have. So if you want to make a new coin you do a hard fork. Like BTC to BTCcash etc. It’s a democratic way of deciding.

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    hashing power gets split, communities get split

1 Like
#4359
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?

Hard Fork

Update that makes previously invalid blocks valid.
For example blocks must be smaller or equal to 1 mb.
After the update a valid block can be smaller or equal to 2 mb.

If everybody updates, it’s fine. Fork happens if not everybody updates.

2 separate chains. For example Bitcoin Cash, SV or Gold are hard forks from BTC.

Expansion of rules.

Soft Fork

Update makes previous valid blocks invalid. Opposite of hard fork.

We reduce the block size from 1 mB to 0.5 mb or equal.
If nodes don’t update, new blocks are still valid since they are smaller. But they are also going to accept blocks larger than 0.5 mB.

Soft fork leads to no fork as long as more than 50% of all nodes update.
If we have less, then we have a fork.

Red is always going to drop its chain and select the blue one if blue has more than 50% of all nodes. This is because they create new blocks faster and the chain becomes longer since it has more hash power.
With less than 50%, the blue chain grows slower. But it will never accept blocks from the Red chain since the block size (rules) is higher.

Reduction of rules.

1 Like
#4360

1 A softfork is a backward-compatible change to the blockchain protocol, while a hardfork is a change that is not backward-compatible and requires all users to upgrade to the new version of the protocol.

2 Some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork include introducing new features, fixing security vulnerabilities, or changing the consensus rules.

3 Some of the risks with performing a hardfork include the potential for a chain spit, the risk of introducing bugs or security vulnerabilities, and the potential for disruption of the network.

1 Like
#4361

  1. Softfork -> A change in the current rule set of the blockchain that makes previously accepted blocks not to be accepted anymore (More strict rule set);
    Hardfork -> A change in the rule set that expands the possibility of blocks that may be accepted into the blockchain.

  2. Some of the reasons could be:

  • To perform a clear upgrade that demands all the nodes to update to the current protocol;
  • To fix any bugs of the previous protocol;
  • To improve the performance of the blockchain;
  1. Some of the risks are:
  • Some of the nodes would not update to the current protocol and, since they’ll not be considering the next blocks valid, a fork of the blockchain with the old rule set would happen, and this would split the hash power (number of miners and nodes), which leads to a less secure blockchain.
  • The new rule set will cause a division of the community, therefore, this will degrade the value of the currency, both the old and the upgraded one.
1 Like
#4362
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

Hard fork: Expansion Previously invalid blocks valid. The network needs to be 100% updated to avoid fork. Block 1mb-2mb

Soft fork: Contractions previously valid blocks invalid. Decrease block size 0.5mb-1mb less unlikely chance to have a fork

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

Clear update of the network and don’t have to decrease the block storage size.

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

Split the chain and the community. Hash power will be split and security of the network.

1 Like
#4363

1.Softforks are changes to the blockchain protocol that make previously valid blocks invalid. Hardforks, on the other hand, are changes to the protocol that make previously invalid blocks valid.

2.Reasons for doing a hardfork include introducing new features or functionalities, improving the security of the blockchain, or resolving disagreements within the community.

3.Some of the risks associated with performing a hardfork include creating a permanent split in the blockchain, reducing the overall security of the network, and decreasing user adoption and confidence in the cryptocurrency

1 Like
#4364
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    softfork is when is 1mb i drpped to 500kb hardfork is when 1mb go up for 2 mb in new blocks
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    improving security of blockchain
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    hash power is slipped
1 Like
#4365
  1. Softfork contracts the rule set while a hardfork expands the rule set.
  2. To increase the overall number of transactions over the network due to increase in network usage.
  3. It can cause miner confusion due to them not knowing the correct block size which could cause them to lose money thereby decreasing the overall security of the network.
#4366

  1. A softfork and a hardfork are both changes to the rules of a blockchain network, but they differ in how they are implemented and their effect on the network. A softfork is a backward-compatible change, which means that nodes running the new software will still be able to communicate with nodes running the old software. In contrast, a hardfork is a change that is not backward-compatible, which means that nodes running the new software will not be able to communicate with nodes running the old software.

  2. There are several reasons why a hardfork might be necessary or desirable, including:

  • Adding new features or functionality to the blockchain that are not possible under the current rules
  • Resolving a disagreement or controversy within the community over the direction of the project
  • Reversing or undoing a transaction that was deemed invalid or fraudulent
  • Updating the network to fix security vulnerabilities or other technical issues
  1. Performing a hardfork carries several risks, including:
  • Fragmenting the network, as nodes running the old software will not be able to communicate with nodes running the new software. This can create two separate chains with their own sets of rules and potentially lead to confusion and disagreements within the community.
  • Creating a new cryptocurrency, as the new rules implemented by the hardfork may not be accepted by all participants in the network. This can result in a split in the community, with some users continuing to use the original cryptocurrency and others switching to the new one.
  • Exposing the network to security vulnerabilities, as the new software may have undiscovered bugs or vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers. It is important to thoroughly test and audit the new software before implementing a hardfork to minimize this risk.
2 Likes
#4367

  1. In summary, the main difference between a hard fork and a soft fork is that a hard fork is a permanent split in the blockchain, requiring all nodes to upgrade to the new rules, while a soft fork is a backward-compatible change, requiring only a majority of nodes to upgrade to the new rules.

  2. Implement new features, solve a disagreement, security and performance improvements.

  3. Net work split, loss of value, introducing new security vulnerabilities, community fragmentation and user confusion.

1 Like
#4368
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

A hard fork is an expansion of the rule set, whereas a soft fork is a contraction. A hard fork causes the creation of two chains, unless 100% of the hash power updates. On the opposite, a soft fork only needs 50% of the hash power to converge to the new chain.

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

For example, to increase the max block size. In general, you perform an hard fork when you want to expand the rule set of the consensus. Meaning, when you want to add new functionality to the chain.

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

The higher risk is that you split the chain and hence you end up with a lower security within the chain. This is because you split the hash power.

1 Like
#4369

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    Soft forks introduce backward-compatible upgrades, whereas hard forks introduce non-backward-compatible changes and result in permanent divergent chains.

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    its clear and democratic and nodes are not forced to adhere to new chain rules

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hard fork?
    split chains and coins. hash power is split reducing the security as some of the miners move to the newly created chain

#4370 
1) What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
SOFT FORK: Is an update that leads to a soft fork, is an update in which previously valid blocks are invalid following the new rule after the update. Since it makes previous valid blocks invalid, We can see it as a contraction.
HARD FORK: Basically The update that leads to an Hard fork is an update that makes previously invalid blocks, valid.
We can see it as an expansion. Consider the following example:
The protocol needs an update that makes blocks greater than 2Mb valid. Before this update Blocks that are greater than one MB was invalid, and after this update the entire network should accept these new blocks of the new size.
It means that miners will run a new version of the software. And after that update, they Continue to append the new blocks that are smaller than two megabytes to This new version of the blockchain. And at the certain point, after the update,  miners that are not updated continue to append Blocks following the old rule (smaller than one MB, and that's how fork happen on the chain.
This update requires that all the entire network must be updated to avoid the fork
2) What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
We can consider that an hard fork would lead to an another Currency, it can splits the community between BlockChainA and BlockChainB.
In this way also the Hash Power will be split and everything will be less secure, due to less rewards to miners, which are in charge of keeping the entire network secure.
3) What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
As above, the community will be split and also the general security will decrease
1 Like
#4371
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    HF increases the rules and makes prior invalid block valid. SF decreases the rules and makes prior valid block invalid.
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    In the case of Bitcoin it would be to increase the size of the blocks.
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    Splits community and creates a new coin. Weakens security of blockchain.
1 Like
#4372

[quote=“ivan, post:1, topic:8446, full:true”]
Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    HF makes previously invalid blocks in to valid, but SF do make previously valid blocks to invalid.
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Hard to answer that question from my understanding, but I would do hard fork if I dont like the vision of the project as it was,for example. But its never one man job, is it?
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork? Comunity spliting, weeker hash rate(lose more security).
1 Like
#4373
  1. A softfork makes previously valid blocks invalid, but a hardfork makes previously invalid blocks valid.
  2. An update to the chain as a whole would be a reason for a hardfork, such as an upgrade in technology or use case.
  3. Some of the risks with a hardfork is splitting of the community, and in my opinion, creating a new currency. This can create distrust in the current chain or distrust in what the chain might eventually become in the future.
1 Like