Crypto Academy / Season 3 / Week 4 – Homework Post for [professor @awesononso] Blockchain Forks.

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Am gladdened once again for yet another opportunity of this wonderful edition by the Crypto Academy. From the lecture offered by Professor @awesononso, reading through this lecture series have given me a better insight on the different blockchain forks and its importance in blockchain technology. To this, I will be writing based on the task given by the Professor.

What is a Fork? (In your own Words)

Just as the name implies, in simple terms, Forks means divergence. As per this task, Fork in blockchain is a divergence that occurs due to changes in protocols in a decentralized storage technology that uses blocks to store data which can be viewed and accessible to all users within the network.

Forks in blockchain occurs as a result of dissatisfaction of the offered network protocol by the users which thus leads to disagreement by the users triggering split of the blockchian. Fork in blockchain is a two edged tool which plays a positive or negative role to the blockchain technology. Positive in the sense that, it can help in upgrading the system to meet the user’s expectation and also negatively in the sense that, it creates uncertainty among users and investors thus making the cryptocurrency volatile.

Explain in details what a Hard Fork is with examples (Can be of any blockchain)

Hard Fork is a type of Fork in blockchain which occurs as a result where users are unable to reach a consensus within the system. This leads to the break out and splitting of the blockchain into different chains. As the splitting occurs, there are changes made on the protocols of the new chain which is different from that of the original chain. This will make it difficult for users in the original chain to access the new chain except if they are verified and accepts (upgrade) the new chains protocols. Hard fork leads to permanent divergence from the original chain.

As there is a fork in the blockchain, the newer version of the chain evolves with a new chain currency which cannot be accessed by users in the original chain except users adopting the new protocols of the new chain. The original chain and the new chain has a common history but works as separate bodies of chain because of their incompatibility.

An example can be seen in the Steem and Hive blockchain. Hive blockchain broke out from steem blockchain some few years ago as a result of hard fork. Steem blockchain is regarded as the original chain while Hive blockchain is the new chain that was created. The two blockchains both have a common history although their protocols are different. They have different cryptocurrency. Bitcoin cash is another example of this type of fork.

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Explain in details what a Soft Fork is with examples (Can be of any blockchain)

Soft Fork is another type of blockchain fork which occurs as a result of disagreement between users of the blockchain. It is meant for modifications or upgrade in the original chain. Unlike the hard fork where the modifications are not compatible with the original version, the soft fork new protocols created are compatible with the original version. Although the new protocols created is compatible, it can only work well when the users upgrade to the specifications of the new protocols. This is when they have a full participation in the upgraded system.

Soft fork helps in the correcting and modifying some flaws in the original version of the chain to meet the user’s expectations. An example of this type of fork is the segregated witness which was created to upgrade the format of transaction in the original Bitcoin chain.

What are the differences between Hard Forks and Soft Forks?

• In hard forks, there is a common history but different protocols while in soft fork, the history is common and the protocols are also common
• The protocols in hard fork is not compatible but in soft fork, it is the reverse case
• Hard fork requires nodes to be able to upgrade to the new protocol but in soft fork, it does not require nodes to work effectively but uses both the upgraded and the old ones as a working tool.
• In hard forks, two blockchains i.e the original chain and the new chain are created while in soft fork, a single blockchain is created
• Hard forks leads to the creation of new cryptocurrency while in soft forks, no new cryptocurrency is created.

Explain the following Bitcoin Forks and explore the blockchain where necessary. Indicate if they are hard forks or soft forks;

Bitcoin Cash

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Bitcoin cash is a cryptocurrency that broke off from the original Bitcoin chain. It was created in 2017, it has its own cryptocurrency with a Ticker symbol – BCH. Bitcoin cash is a result of the hard fork that took place in August, 2017 which aimed at creating larger blocks in its blockchain which would aid the processing of more transaction in a shorter time. This was the upgrade that was to take place in the original Bitcoin chain. But there was a faction between the users of the interface, some wanted to keep blocks small so that nodes will be operated with less resources while some were against it rather choosing the creation of larger blocks. This faction between the supporters led to the first Bitcoin fork creating a new chain known as the Bitcoin Cash. Although Bitcoin Cash and the original Bitcoin has a common history, but their protocols are of different paths.

Segregated Witnesses

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Segregated Witness otherwise known as SegWit is an atmosphere that allows for easy and more transaction in the Bitcoin chain. How does it work? It is a soft fork product that aims at changing the transaction format of Bitcoin. It was created by Pieter Wuille. It changes the format of transaction by increasing the block size limit on Bitcoin chain by removing signature data (Witness data) from the original portion i.e Bitcoin transactions. Once this part of transaction is removed, it allows for more transactions to be added to the chain due to the freed up space and capacity.

Write on the Steem and Hive Hard Fork and show similarities in their Genesis Blocks (Provide screenshots)

Steem and Hive Hard Fork took place as a result of disagreement between the users of the platform when the Justin Sun who is the founder of Tron suggested the integration TRX into the steem blockchain. This left the users with diverse views of which a consensus was not met. Those that did not accept the idea suggested by Justin Sun triggered the splitting of the blcokchain. This led to the hard fork thus the creation of a new chain called Hive. The new chain created “Hive” has a common history with that of Steem but there is a slight difference in the feautures, cryptocurrency, platform background and so on with a different protocol which is not compatible with that of the original Steem version

Home page of Steem blockchain

Home page of Hive blockchain

Similarities in the their genesis blocks

There are similarities between the two blockchains as they bear a common history in their genesis block. To explore this, visit the url https://steemworld.org. This url has on it some similar features which when compared to the later chain is similar as shown in the screenshots below.

Also, to check the genesis block of the Hive blockchain, visit the url https://hiveblocks.com/.

Conclusion
Anything that comes as a genesis will always have or need an upgrade or modifications to meet the needs of the present. Blockchains as we all know when it was created, had features a little bit different from the present based on the modifications which is applied to meet the expectations of the users at the present. We all know that the beginning is the key to the present. Without the genesis block to be created, there will be no need for the modifications.

Blockchain which works on a decentralized system is a platform where everybody is a shareholder to the affairs of the platform, decisions are not given by a single person and as such there will always be disagreement when it comes to decisions because as humans we all think and understand things in diverse ways, and this is what leads to hard or soft fork. The two forks plays a greater role in the growth of blockchain technology at large.

Thanks prof. @awesononso for this wonderful and interesting lecture.