Homework on Soft and Hard Forks - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#743

  1. Hard fork makes invalid blocks valid and soft forks makes valid blocks invalid.

  2. When consensus rules change.

  3. Community could split.

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#744
  1. soft fork(previously valid blocks become invalid/contraction (rules change block size from 2mb to 1mb))
    hard fork(previously invalid blocks become valid/expansion (rules change block size from 1mb to 2mb))
  2. a hard fork is democratic meaning there is more clarity on which blocks are now valid vs soft forks where previously valid blocks become invalid which can lead to confusion.
  3. cons of hard forking: split in chain, split in hash power(more vulnerabilty to 51% attacks), split in community.
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#745

1.Hard forks basically make invalid blocks valid. Soft forks makes valid blocks invalid.

  1. Change in consensus.

  2. Split the community and create new currency plus reducing hash power

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#746

1: A softfork is an update that makes previously valid blocks invalid - Contraction of rule set
A hardfork is an update that makes previously invalid blocks valid - Expansion of rule set

2: Expand the rule set - make the network more efficient.

3: You can split the chain, creating forks. You may split the community as some are for the update and some are against it. There can be a hash power split as some chose the first part of the fork and others chose the second.

edit: Also, a hardfork update needs the entire 100% of the network to update in order to avoid a fork where a softfork only needs 51% of the network.

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#747
  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?

A soft fork makes previously valid blocks invalid, while a hard fork makes previously invalid blocks valid.

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

It is a clear and democratic update that expands the rules and can add new functionality

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

This would split the community, split the hash power (lessening security) and create a new currency.

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#748

1.) The difference between a hard fork and a soft fork is that a hard fork makes previously invalid blocks valid; an expansion of the ruleset. A soft fork will make previously valid blocks invalid, which can also be viewed as a contraction of the rules. Furthermore, a hard fork will always result in two blockchains, whereas a soft fork doesn’t necessarily but could result in a second chain.

2.) A hardfork would be initiated if enough miners decide to change the rules as to what makes a block valid. This will effectively create a new currency, which can be a reason in itself.

3.) Risks of performing a hardfork include reducing the hashpower, and thus, the security of the network. And when it comes to a hard fork, dividing the community is basically inevitable. .

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#749

  1. What is the difference between a soft fork and a hard fork?
    A soft fort makes previous transactions invalid from being valid and a hard fork makes previous invalid blocks valid.

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hard fork?
    To give a clear update and in favor of a democratic environment where nodes can choose where to go.

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hard fork?
    The blockchain would be split which would then split the community and decrease the hash power.

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#750

  1. A soft fork results from contracting the consensus rules for block validation (eg reducing acceptable block size) whereas a hard fork expands these rules (eg increasing acceptable block size)

  2. A hardfork may result a change to consensus rules -a determination that expansion rules are needed, that for whatever reason it is not feasible to limit block size to the degree currently mandated.

  3. By definition the hardfork splits the community and this reduces hashpower and therefore security on the network. In addition a hardfork will result in an increased number of stale blocks and associated unconfirmed transactions, potentially leading to lack of faith in the blockchain by users.

#751
  1. Softforks have contracting rule sets (previously valid, now invalid) while hardforks have expanding rule sets(previously invalid, now valid). Also hardforks result in a chain split, whereas softforks don’t.
  2. Some reasons why you would want a hardfork are if you are wanting to work with a different rule set and also if you want to create new currency.
  3. Some risks involved in hardforks are splits in both chain and community.
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#752

What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork? Both types of fork arise from an update in the consensus rules but the difference resides on the effect they have about the validity of blocks. A softfork occurs when the update makes previously valid blocks invalid and it is required more than 50% of the network updated to avoid the fork, then that is said to be a contraction of the ruleset. In contrast, a hardfork occurs when the update makes previously invalid blocks valid and it needs 100% of the network updated to avoid the fork. It is also called an expansion of the ruleset.

What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork? Reasons may include a clean and complete implementation of a change in protocol, correcting important security risks found in older versions of the software, to add new functionality, or even to reverse transactions (ETH case)

What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork? There will be a split of the chain, there would be a split in the community, there could also be potential space for a scam.

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#753

  1. A soft Fork makes previous valid blocks become invalid, and is a “tightening” of the rules. A hard fork makes previous invalid blocks become valid, and is an “expansion” of the rules.

  2. Doing a Hard fork might be good for establishing a clear update and a democratic decision.

  3. The risk with a hard fork is the fact that the community will be split along with their version of currency. This also reduces the security of the network since many miners will be split and so will the hash power.

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#754

  1. hardfork: update that makes formerly invalid blocks valid (e.g. from block size 1MB to 2 MB). There has to be a 100% adherence of nodes, hence all nodes need to update.
    softfork: update that makes formerly valid blocks invalid (e.g. from block size 1 MB to 0.5 MB). A softfork splits the chain since only 51% has to take part.

  2. for example for an update of the code that might be important for maintaining security (maybe formerly somebody detected a possible problem in the code). Hence, every time we actually need a 100% adherence

  3. Miners and other nodes participating on the network can leave to continue their own version. Problem: reduced hash power on both chains, reduced security on both.

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#755
  1. Hardfork : making previous invalid blocks valid
    softfort: making previous valid blocks valid
  2. expansion the rules
    its more democratic as we can choose the best version we want to follow
    improve blockchain
    create a new currency
  3. spliting the hash power - making the blockchain less secure
    split comunity
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#756

  1. What is the difference between a softfork and a hardfork?
    Soft fork makes previously valid blocks invalid and hard fork makes invalid blocks valid where soft forks do not split the chain or community

  2. What are some of the reasons why you would do a hardfork?
    Where the direction, consensus or core belief may change.

  3. What are some of the risks with performing a hardfork?
    Splitting the community which weakens security by dividing hashpower of the miners.

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#757

  • The difference between a soft and a hard fork is that the hard fork creates a permanent chain on the block whereas the soft fork is non-permanent.

  • You would do a hard fork in order to create a new chain with new rules e.g. create another currency.

  • Some of the risks of creating a hardfork is that not all of the nodes will update with the latest version and will therefore not be aware of the hard fork. This can have the effect of splitting the community.

#758

  1. There are a number of differences between a softfork and a hardfork.
    image

  2. Some reasons for a hard fork might be

  • To create two blockchains ongoing
  • Better privacy
  • Better security
  • Correcting security risks in the code
  • Adding new functionality
  • Creating a new currency
  • Potentially relocating transactions that resulted from bad actors
  1. Some of the risks of a hardfork are splitting the chain causing reduced hash power and security as well as increased time, energy, and brainpower required for two blockchains being beyond what was expected/estimated.
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#759

It will not fork a new chain if everybody updates. For example, if a major security update is needed with a hardfork, Everybody would probably update

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#760

Why would a hardfork result in more stale blocks? Stale blocks can happen due to accidental forks, if 2 miners accidentally mine a block at the same time on the same blockheight.

#761

What do you mean by ‘permanent chain on the block’? Hardforks are a change in consensus rules that doesn’t fit the older rules and would be invalid. A softfork also changes rules, but they are still valid in the old rules. For example setting the maximum block size from 1MB to 0.5MB. This is still valid in the older rules because it’s still lower than 1MB.
In a hardfork, you don’t get a split in the blockchain if everybody would update. (for example to fix some security problem)

#762

Very much appreciated, sir.