Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#442
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

A softfork will be ok on some soft foods, but you need a hardfork to stab into a good piece of meat.

  • Soft Fork: An update that makes previously valid blocks now invalid. A contraction of Rule set.
  • Hard Fork: An update that makes previously invalid blocks now valid. An expansion of Rule set.
  1. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
  • You would do a hardfork when the current consensus rule set is too limiting and you need to expand
    the rule set going forward.
  • Its a clear update, and members of the community who don’t agree with the new direction can
    choose to leave the main network and follow a seperate block chain, and create a new community.
  1. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
  • You split the block chain, leading to seperate chains and seperate projects
  • You split the community, leading to less adoption and support for the main project.
  • You split the hash power, leading to less security on the main chain.
  1. .
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#443

1.The difference between a soft fork and a hard fork is that a hard fork makes a previous invalid blocks valid and soft forks make previous valid blocks invalid. soft forks are more desirable than hard forks.

  1. Reasons why you would want to do a hardfork are:
    a. Blocks are >=1mB
    b. want to make a radical change to protocol of the blockchain
    c. you want to create a whole new cryptocurrency

  2. Some of the risks of performing a hard fork are:
    a. it creates non backward compatible
    b. splits the blockchain
    c. splits communication
    d. splits hash power

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#444

Q1A. A softfork will make previously valid blocks invalid but won’t split the community. A hardfork will make invalid blocks valid and split the community. Soft forks are democratic and Hard forks are not.
Q2A. A hardfork could be done if the community cannot come to consensus about an update or issue.
Q3A. A hardfork reduces the has power and security of the network.

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#445
  1. A Soft Fork is an update that makes previously valid blocks invalid, while an Hard Fork is an update that makes previously invalid blocks valid.
  2. A Hard Fork would be made when a consensus rule change wants to be made by expanding the rule set of the protocol/network.
  3. Performing an Hard Fork would split the hash power and split the community by for example creating a new digital currency (e.g. Bitcoin Cash). Splitting the hash power would lower security, because he hash power will be divided over two chains now.
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#446

  1. Soft forks make the existing set of rules of the new mined blocks more restrictive (previously valid blocks are now invalid while hard forks makes the rules less restrictive by making previously invalid blocks now valid

  2. I would do a hard fork to make the network more efficient. Pros include a democratic decision by miners and nodes and a clear update with new rules to be applied

  3. Risks include splitting the chain; splitting the community and reducing security by splitting hash power

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#447

What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

softfork is a contraction of the rules making previously valid blocks invalid. A hardfork is a expansion of the rules making previously invalid blocks valid.

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

a change in concensus. simply to make new rules in the nerwork

What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?

Splitting community, splitting hash power which lowers security

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#448
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A softfork is a contraction of the ruleset, it makes previously invalid blocks valid.
  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    You want to expand the ruleset, you want democracy in adhering to the ruleset, you want to create a new currency.
  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    It splits the chains and the community, matbe you don’t want a new currency.
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#449

What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

  1. A softfork generally keeps the blockchain as one chain instead of splitting it into 2 separate chains. This is generally the preferred route.

What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
2. To expand the set of rules in the network resulting in blocks that were previously seen as invalid by the network to now becoming valid eg a 2mB block in a 1mB block limit rule, changing to 2mB limit.

What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
3. Apart from creating a new currency (which could be seen also as a positive), the hashing rate is split which could pose a security risk to the network if it leave one or both chains in a vulnerable position leading to a potential 51% mining attack. It also risks splitting the community.

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#450

  1. A softfork is an update that makes previously valid blocks invalid,and a hardfork update
    makes previously invalid blocks valid.

  2. When consensus on the network is agreed.

  3. Hash power is split and security is reduced.

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#451
  1. Hard forks are an expansion of the rule set while Soft forks are a contraction of the rule set where new blocks are produced within the rule set.
  2. If you want a change in the consensus rules and create a new currency.
  3. There will be a split of the hash power which will reduce the security.
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#452

  1. A softfork does not typically result in a new chain and community and a hardfork always does. A softfork makes a valid block invalid and a hardfork makes an invalid block valid. Both are software updates. A softfork is within the current set of rules of the protocol, a hardfork changes the rules.

  2. Some of the reasons you would do a hardfork is to break away from certain rules in the protocol that a segment of the community no longer agrees with and wants to change. A classic example is when BCH broke off of BTC.

  3. With a hardfork the community can become divided, hash power can be reduced and it gives the appearance to those from outside the cryptosphere that we are not united.

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#453
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

A soft fork makes transactions that were previously valid, now invalid.

A hard fork makes transactions that were previously invalid, now valid.

Analogy that helps my brain:

Original protocol: You are a Catholic and your program says ‘get married to one person and make babies’
Soft Fork
Catholic person becomes Priest. Still Catholic, just more so. (Rules say no sexual partners)
Hard Fork
Catholic person becomes FLDS Mormon. Based on the same operating system, but not Catholic anymore. (Rules say multiple wives)

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

If the blockchain development community decided that parameters not currently allowed are now necessary, a hard fork would be done.

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

A hard fork risks splitting the community/network. It also reduces the hash power/security of the network.

#454
  1. one makes valid blocks invalid and the vice versa
  2. change consensus rules. for example 1mB to 2mb block size
  3. hash power is split, less security
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#455

  1. A soft fork makes previously valid blocks invalid and contracts the network. A hard fork makes previously invalid blocks valid and expands the network. With a softfork, since the rules of the new protocol also fall under the rules of the old protocol, eventually (assuming > 50% of nodes update) the nodes that updated will have a longer chain, and since the old nodes also see these blocks as valid, they will accept the longer chain since the network always accepts the longest chain with most PoW. With a hardfork, since the rules of the new protocol do not fall under the rules of the old, the old nodes will not accept those blocks so now you will have two versions of the blockchain.

  2. If there is disagreement in the community and wish to change something in the protocol and go a different route. Maybe you wish a for a new currency. You want to expand the network to accept new rules / consensus.

  3. You split the community. You create a new currency (which could be bad as inflationary which goes against the main purpose behind BTC). Also, you split the hash power which decreases the difficulty and thus the security is decreased (more hash power, more difficult to mine, more secure).

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#456
1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
  • A hard fork is an expansion of the consensus ruleset, where a soft fork is a contraction
  • A hard fork is guaranteed to create a fork in the chain unless 100% of the network updates
  • In a soft fork all blocks generated by the updated nodes are still valid to the old nodes, and as long as the updated nodes have the majority of the hash power any blocks generated by old nodes will likely become stale as the updated nodes will generate new blocks faster.
2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
  • There may be no way to implement the update in such a way that does not create a hark fork- i.e. completely new consensus rules that conflict with previous rules
  • In the case of a disagreement in the community, a hard fork allows both versions to exist simultaneously allowing users to choose for themselves which version to use
3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
  • It may fragment the community creating 2 separate currencies (i.e. BCH, BSV)
  • Hash power may be split between the new and old forks reducing the security of both
#457
  1. A softfork can be considered as making the rule-set for consensus smaller, making the previous blocks invalid due to the new more restrictive rule-set. A hardfork can be considered as making the rule-set larger, making previous blocks now valid by expanding the rule-set.
  2. One of the benefits of a hardfork is that you will force all members of the network to update, and its very clear they must do so or they will be on a different chain. This gives all members a clear choice to support the chain of their choosing. A good example of this is ETH and ETC.
  3. Some of the risks with a hardfork is that you will split the chain and community very clearly between different rule-sets.
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#458

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    A soft fork contracts the set of consensus rules and a hard fork expands them

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Hard forks provide a clear update that all nodes must adhere to

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    Hard forks split the chain and reduce security as miners will be mining on different chains for a certain amount of time

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#459

1.Soft forks makes previously valid blocks invalid and hardforks makes invalid blocks valid.

2.A new consensus

3.The risk will be a unsecure network and split the Blockchain.

#460

1.) A soft fork its an update that makes a previusly valid block invalid (Contraction of set of rules) and a hard fork its the opposite of a soft fork makes a previusly invalid block valid (Expantion of set of rules)
2.)Makes a new currency also its a clear updated for every one and some said that its democratic .
3.)Split the chain also split the community creates a new currency hash power split and reduces security

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#461
  1. The difference between a hardfork and a soft fork in that they are oposite. In a hardfork previously invalid blocks become valid after they apply to the new rules (increase of a block size). In soft forks previously valid blocks become invalid (decrease of block size).
  2. A reason I would do a hard fork is if I wanted to increase the block size or change any other rules that consensus is built upon.
  3. The risks performing a hard fork may result in a chain split, split of community because they do not accept/agree with the new rules applied and a split in hash power which is the worst, beacuse that would reduce the security of the network.
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