What is a hardfork and why does bitcoin fork so much?

Hardfork? How does that differ to say a soft fork? Am I making these things up? Sadly no.

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WHAT IS A HARD FORK/SOFT FORK?

Quite simply a hard fork is a split or change from the current 'chain' of code. This usually involves the splitting of a cryptocurrency, as we saw with Bitcoin resulting in Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin Cash. I personally only rate Bitcoin Cash as an acceptable fork. Others may disagree. Ethereum was said to have a 'hardfork' but this was actually an upgrade known as 'Metropolis'.

Moving on, a soft fork is similar to an upgrade as it is an upgrade or change to the code and does not involve the split of a coin or code.

The only reason we 'split' is because there are two parties who have two different visions and versions of what they believe is the 'true bitcoin'.

WHY DO THESE DISAGREEMENTS ARISE?

Two words. Satoshi Nakomoto. The man. The myth. The legend. No-one knows who this man is and his whereabouts but he owns 1 million bitcoins and wrote the white paper to develop one of the most revolutionary currencies in the world. I admire him as an individual as he never wanted to see another GFC and truly gave power back to the 'people' the ordinary individuals. This is one of the reasons I am a bitcoin maximalist and pro-cryptocurrency.

Moving on, bitcoin at a fundamental level is to be a decentralised cryptocurrency that was very specific in block size being 1MB to prevent network hacks of nodes (any computer connected to the network). With increasing adoption this is more difficult to allow faster transactions and multiple transactions. Now arises the debate. We have some wanting Bitcoin to scale and be actually used as a legitimate currency. While on the other hand Satoshi believers do not want to change the code and believe it has proven itself in the last 8 years and should not be changed.

WHAT NOW?
Essentially it is a tug of war between all the political parties - Miners against Developers. Wait... this sounds centralised and political. Yes ironically it is! Majority of Bitcoin miners are actually in China. For them all they care about is mining Bitcoin cheaply. Developers on the other hand want to improve the system. These disagreements are one of the disadvantages of not having a 'face' or leader to a cryptocurrency like Ethereum. Vitalik Buterin is the founder and has significant control and judgement about the direction of Ethereum.

For those that are coming into this space. Welcome. Its can be very intimidating with all the lingo and software technical talk. I do not have a strong background in this so don't fear. Everything can be learnt. Things take time. Just educate yourself and know that there are a lot of scam artists and people out to steal your wealth. Exercise caution and feel free to ask me questions. So I just want to summarise the positive and negatives of bitcoin forks:

POSITIVES

• "Free money" as you essentially get a dividend in the form of another coin
• Can allow for cheaper and faster transactions (larger block sizes)
• Allow for mass adoption
• Function like a currency
• Improves the system by challenging the bitcoin protocol
• Allows for the discovery of the 'one true' bitcoin

NEGATIVES

• Creates too many coins labelled 'bitcoin' that are seen as cash grabs by developers
• Creates uncertainty in markets
• Upsets the value of alt. coins
• The forked coin may be susceptible to hacks and lack replay protection
• Seen as money printing as although supply of bitcoin is limited monthly forks create money out of nothing
• Create a culture of it becoming more common

I will post on the 2X fork this weekend and the Bitcoin Silver rumours I hope truly are a joke. This will be another trash coin like Bitcoin Gold.

Cryptoshaf

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DISCLAIMER: Please note I am not a financial advisor and none of this should be taken as financial advice as they are my opinions and always do your own research as you should only be investing with money you can afford to lose.

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