Hello everyone, a warm welcome to the fourth week of the 4^th season of the steemit challenge. I'm indeed happy to be participating in the challenge series this season. I hope everyone joining is happy to do so as well. ![iMarkup_20220606_203110.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbkSNpxupAavUhjDqPByxg7wkH6wf2j5vpcbvD81VmAFU/iMarkup_20220606_203110.jpg)_{Image was designed with PowerPoint} The crypto academy community wants participants to discuss their understanding of Blockchain Forks, I will be responding to the assignment given. ------------ #### Question ##### Using your own terms to define what is a fork in general? ----------- ##### Blockchain Fork The term Blockchain fork is a terminology used in the crypto ecosystem to describe when there's a **change or upgrade in the software** of a given Blockchain. The primary aim of this change is to improve the features and capabilities of the network by the developers. Blockchain fork is achieved because of the decentralized nature of Blockchain, as it's source-code is **open sourced** and can be modified by the developers, who aim to improve the operational functionality of the Blockchain to suit the need of their community. There are two categories of Blockchain forks, which include Soft and Hard Blockchain forks. The ripple effect of undergoing a Blockchain fork in some cases creates a destabilized Blockchain network resulting from the new changes/upgrades made to the blockchain. This creates increased volatility in the pricing of its native token as there is varying speculation on the outcome of the fork procedure. Investors plan for the uncertain effect of the new upgrades made to the blockchain. Validator nodes decide either to unanimously adopt the new upgrades, thus maintaining a single version of the Blockchain, or in an event of varying opinion amongst validator nodes, where some miners prefer the previous version to the new, this creates different versions of the Blockchain that can function and coexist simultaneously using similar architecture. --------- ![page breaker.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZsaxNLt4vQSTq2pbtxcPGYuV7QrN1SdZ3mSeNXK85zUZ/page%20breaker.png) -------- #### Question ##### Using any blockchain example, explain what a Hard Fork is. ---------- ##### Blockchain Hard Fork The blockchain hard fork is a type of Blockchain fork that is considered to be **backward incompatible** as there are many changes in the software of the Blockchain during the network upgrade. This causes a separation within the blockchain network leading to two or more different versions of the blockchain coexisting. One of the versions will be a continuation of the old Blockchain software, maintaining the previous rules, protocols, etc. And the other versions will develop a new set of rules and protocols using the same architecture. After a Blockchain hard fork is done, the new version of the blockchain treats blocks from the previous chains as invalid as it now runs on a new protocol, similarly, the old blockchain will treat the new connecting blocks as an invalid blocks as the protocol is different. This affects the backward incompatibility of a hard fork on blockchains, irrespective of the simultaneous coexistence. ![diagram-crypto-education-1.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmV2X1NmSWULmePuwiox3Rk4Y1o8xv97Ku7uGGYNXkVirf/diagram-crypto-education-1.png)_{[Image Source](https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/resources/what-are-cryptocurrency-forks)} Ideally, shared history between the hard fork version would allow token holders to retain the previous balance. Although the new Blockchain will create a new native token as the protocol is different now. The old version of blockchain users can buy shares of the newly created token but cannot earn them from activities like mining. --------- ##### Example of Hard Fork A good example of a Blockchain hard Fork is that of **Ethereum's Merge**, which is the migration to the PoS consensus mechanism. PoS is considered to be a more energy-conservative consensus mechanism when compared to PoW. The Ethereum merge happened on the 15^th of September 2022, this saw the new consensus mechanism called Beacon Chain get connected to the current Ethereum virtual machine. The hard fork transition was divided into two major procedures rather than just a one-step transition. The first step was initiated in December of 2020 with the launch of the Beacon chain, which underwent a series of testing by stakers, and allowed developers to fix bugs. The second step was the merge, which recently occurred. this step saw the consensus layer of the beacon chain (PoS) merge with the current EVM state of the traditional PoW chain. ##### Ripple Effect? Following the merge on Ethereum, some validator node communities led by **Chandler Guo** who disagreed with the transition move of Ethereum from PoW to PoS created their version of the Blockchain called the ETHPoW and the ETHW which is trading at $6.75 as of the time of this research. ----------- ![page breaker.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZsaxNLt4vQSTq2pbtxcPGYuV7QrN1SdZ3mSeNXK85zUZ/page%20breaker.png) ----------- #### Question ##### Using any blockchain example, explain what a Soft Fork is. ------------- ##### Blockchain Soft Fork A Blockchain Soft Fork is a type of Blockchain fork that is considered to be **backward compatible**. Ideally, Blockchain soft fork maintains the same Blockchain after an upgrade in the software of the blockchain. These changes enabled on the blockchain do not cause splitting of the blockchain, as previous history, protocols, and rules are maintained in the blockchain after the upgrade. ![0_GB_SPsD69LJtza5Y.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmavQWrJYSE234NRUQUPcmQEpAtY3J6ZZXPTtRfUxFuD3a/0_GB_SPsD69LJtza5Y.png)_{[Image Source](https://medium.com/@lightcoin/the-differences-between-a-hard-fork-a-soft-fork-and-a-chain-split-and-what-they-mean-for-the-769273f358c9)} Since all previous history and protocols are maintained, no transition upgrade is required to be done by the user nodes. The connecting nodes (before and after upgrade) treat each transaction block as valid blocks within the blockchain, thus confirming the backward compatibility of the soft fork applied on the Blockchain. The validator communities on the Blockchain ecosystem of a Blockchain unanimously agree on the proposed change within the blockchain, thus resulting in wide adoption of the new changes without needing separation from the previous Blockchain. --------- ##### Example of Soft Fork A popular referenced soft fork is the segregated witness (segwit) upgrade done on Bitcoin Blockchain. It was developed in 2015 by Pieter Wiulle. The need for the upgrade resulted from the increased scalability of the Bitcoin Blockchain network, where the number of transaction queues was increasing. To improve the situation, the developer proposed a transaction block model that has no witness signature included to increase the number of transactions that can be loaded in a block at once, by leaving the witness signature blank. The standard Bitcoin block had a capacity of 1 MB which can contain about 2700 transaction details. By removing the witness signature contained in the transactions, the block can now contain more transaction details reducing the queuing problem experienced within the Blockchain. The segwit upgrade was implemented in the Bitcoin Blockchain in 2017, which was not so welcomed by some of the members of the Blockchain. This led to the hard fork of Bitcoin technology creating the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain. This turned out not to be the ideal soft fork planned. --------- ![page breaker.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZsaxNLt4vQSTq2pbtxcPGYuV7QrN1SdZ3mSeNXK85zUZ/page%20breaker.png) --------- #### Question ##### What are the differences between Hard Forks and Soft Forks? ----------- ##### Differences between Hard Fork and Soft Fork in Blockchain There is a notable difference between a hard fork and a soft fork in Blockchain, the include the following: Hard fork | Soft fork --------------|-------------- 1- Often results in the creation of a new Blockchain after the changes are implemented. |1- The old Blockchain is maintained including previous rules and protocol. 2- Treats the previous transaction block as invalid |2- Treat both old and new transaction block as valid. 3- often result in faction separation and disapproval of some validator communities on the changes made on the Blockchain |3- Almost every validator member approves the changes 4- New native token is formed for the new Blockchain |4- No new native token is formed. ----- ![page breaker.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZsaxNLt4vQSTq2pbtxcPGYuV7QrN1SdZ3mSeNXK85zUZ/page%20breaker.png) --------- #### Question ##### Explain the Steem and Hive Hard fork by showing the similarities/differences in their Genesis blocks. ----------- ##### Steem Blockchain Hard Fork The steem blockchain experienced a hard fork after a major upgrade was made to its software's source code. The hard fork resulted in the creation of a new blockchain called **Hive**. Hive and Steem Blockchain share the same common history blocks but treat previous transaction blocks from each blockchain as invalid. The hard fork on the Steem blockchain started after the integration of **Tron token** as part of the Blockchain's reward tokens, and this stirred reactions between witnesses communities, and users of the blockchain. A fraction of the community went ahead to develop a new Blockchain called Hive. Similar to steem, Hive has native tokens called Hive Backed Dollar (HBD), Hive, and Hive power. The similarities grow deep to even the blog website layout with differences in color scheme and logo design. Steem and Hive share the same previous history and this can be verified from their Genesis Blocks. To investigate this, let's explore the genesis block of both steem and Hive Blockchain's **Steem Genesis Block** ![Screenshot_20220920-123443_1.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZGuqmK7kwPZsX1Sp5dKbMWhyoDUiBiLKRcJmZpBNGZcU/Screenshot_20220920-123443_1.jpg)_{[Image Source](https://steemworld.org/block/1)} --------- **Hive Genesis Block** ![Screenshot_20220920-124228_1.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRvf7vB39aTt2t3zN6TqPKM96bnne8zzCqS6G4A7nvFEL/Screenshot_20220920-124228_1.jpg)_{[Image Source](https://hiveblocks.com/b/1)} The underlying evidence revealed by the genesis block show in detail the common history shared by Steem blockchain and Hive Blockchain. The similarities indicated that both Blockchains shared the same witness, hash, and the same time of the transaction in their genesis blocks. --------- ![page breaker.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZsaxNLt4vQSTq2pbtxcPGYuV7QrN1SdZ3mSeNXK85zUZ/page%20breaker.png) ----------- #### Conclusion ----------- Changes and upgrades made in the software of a given Blockchain serve the interest of users and the sustainability of the Blockchain, in the long run, resulting from various enhancements that might be agreed upon by some members of the blockchain community and rejected by other members. Forking is achieved because of the decentralized nature of blockchain, which allows the creation of new blockchains from an existing Blockchain since the code is open-sourced.