Crypto Academy / Season 3 / Week 4 - Homework Post for Professor [@awesononso] | Blockchain Forks

Hello Steemian

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Previously I've studied about Blockchain Forks from professor @awesononso and on this occasion, I will answer questions from the assignment that has been given by professor @awesononso. May be useful.

^{source edited with Adobe Illustrator CC 2017}

1).What is a Fork? (In your own Words)

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At first, I didn't know what a ”fork” was in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, if interpreted in everyday language fork was an eating utensil other than a spoon. After studying more deeply I finally can clearly understand what a fork is in the blockchain world.

^source Fork is a term used in the world of blockchain and digital currency to update their system to be better than before, just like when we update software on a computer, which is intended to improve the performance of the existing system on the software. it is even better because it has been upgraded with the latest inputs that will be more helpful for users in the future. Updates to the software/applications that we use, be it on PCs, phones, or tablets are familiar and we do regularly.

^{Blockchain fork source} Fork on the blockchain can be done by many parties out there because it is open-source, meaning that software development is carried out by many people openly around the world, not by a team of developers in one particular company. When one “group” insists on a software change and the other doesn't agree, they may decide to go their separate ways.
There are two types of Fork in the blockchain, both of which have their own functions and ways of working. The forks are Soft Fork and also Hard fork.

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

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^source
Hard fork is a condition when the development team of a crypto agrees to apply a feature or update to the coin's programming system. Usually, this is done to secure the crypto network or adapt to the growing and growing number of coin users. This usually happens when there are changes that go against the old protocol. If the planned changes are significant, an updated version of the technology will be created. This new version may not be compatible with the old version. If the development team finds this change controversial, the new version will fork from the main branch (old version) and operate with new rules (new version). As happened with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, there have also been other forks.

^{Ethereum network source} In addition, an example of a cryptocurrency that has been hard fork is the Ethereum cryptocurrency, from this hard fork Ethereum and Ethereum Classic were generated. Both Ethereum and Ethereum Classic are already on different server code networks, users cannot send Ethereum to the Ethereum Classic network and vice versa. If user has a certain amount of Ethereum when the hard fork occurs, user will have two types of coins, namely Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

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• Hard Fork Ethereum Constantinople

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On January 16, 2019, one of the largest cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) is planning to do a Hard Fork on their system. This exciting hard fork is an important step in Ethereum's roadmap to version 2.0, where the Ethereum protocol from Proof-of-Work (PoW) will gradually transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). Hard Fork Constantinople will implement five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).

^{Ethereum Constantinople source} One of them contains a change in block reward (EIP 1234), the result of this forking is that the block reward will be reduced from 3 ETH to 2 ETH per block. The previous ETH supply always increased by 20,300 ETH per day. After the Constantinople hard fork is carried out, Ethereum emissions will be reduced to 13,400 ETH per day, or from 7.4 million ETH per year to 4.9 ETH per year. Ethereum inflation rate will drop from 7.7% to 4.8%. As ETH emissions and supply stabilize, supply limit will depend on market demand.

^{Blockchain Hard Fork source}

Constantinople hard fork and EIP 1234 in particular are exciting developments for the Ethereum (ETH) cryptocurrency. The decline in block rewards in Byzantium came at a time when the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies was still an unfamiliar term. Now, the blockchain and crypto industry is developing into a global phenomenon, so the Constantinople Hard Fork has the potential to be a milestone in Ethereum development journey.

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

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Soft Fork itself has a different character from Hard Fork, soft fork can still operate in the old version while the hard fork updates with very different system updates that cannot relate the new version to the previous version. The Soft Fork will only provide minor changes to the blockchain network, an overview of the update of the soft fork for example, if a protocol is changed by way of tightened rules, executes a change or adds a function that does not affect any construction, so then the latest version of the block will be accepted with an old version of nodes.

^{Soft Fork source} Soft fork and Hard Fork are changes or updates that will occur in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, however, these changes will certainly have an impact, including that both blockchain networks will still be used by users but there will be a blockchain network that is more dominant than the other blockchain network.

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• Soft Fork Taproot Bitcoin

Taproot is a Soft Fork or update that can improve Bitcoin scripts to increase privacy levels and fix other factors associated with complex Bitcoin transactions. Transactions on the Bitcoin network can use various features that make it more complex, such as releasing time locks, multi signature requirements, and more.

^{Taproot Bitcoin illustration source} Multi-signature allows BTC wallets to be managed by multiple owners. So every outgoing transaction in 1 BTC wallet can be signed by the owner from several different BTC wallets. For example, in 1 wallet there is 1 BTC to be sent to another wallet. The script on Taproot allows BTC to be sent only if 5 people agree through 5 different wallets.

4). What are the differences between Hard Forks and Soft Forks ?

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^{Hard fork vs Soft Fork source}

If the changes that occur in the soft fork produce two codes that are the same and can be related to each other, on the other hand, changes that occur in the hard fork produce two different codes and cannot be related to each other.

Soft Fork	Hard Fork
Soft Fok are considered as less troublesome	Hard Fork are considered very troublesome.
Minor software updates, compatible with the older version	Software updates incompatible with the older version
Only the miner’s functionality is getting affected if not upgraded	If miner does not upgrade they would no longer be able to participate and validate the new transaction
Soft Fork examples are block limit and BIP 66	Hard fork examples are Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic

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

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• Bitcoin Cash (Hard Fork)

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^source Bitcoin Cash is one of the cryptocurrencies that appeared in the hard fork event on the Bitcoin blockchain in 2017. The lack of consensus of the Bitcoin community regarding Bitcoin's scalability led to a hard fork resulting in Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the coins that have a block size of up to 8 MB compared to Bitcoin (BTC) which is only 1 MB, so Bitcoin Cash (BCH) can be used for transactions with a larger size than Bitcoin (BTC).

^{Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on Coinmarketcap source} In addition, BCH has also become one of the most sought-after cryptocurrencies by traders because of the higher transaction fees than BTC for each transaction. After the Bitcoin hard fork was carried out, every Bitcoin holder had Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with a value similar to his “senior” Bitcoin (BTC), no wonder BCH had a price of 900 USD per chip when it was introduced to the cryptocurrency market a few years ago.

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• Segregated Witnesses (Soft Fork)

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^{Segregated Witnesses (SegWit) logo source} Segwit, short for Segregated Witness, is a Bitcoin (BTC) network upgrade that aims to solve several problems. Segregated Witness This was first introduced by Developer Pieter Wiulle at the Bitcoin Scaling conference in December 2015. The presence of SegWit reaps pros and cons from various circles. This new protocol can be a transaction effectiveness solution. Segregated Witness will separate digital signatures from other transaction data, and transfer them at the end of the transaction. As a result, the Bitcoin transaction size will be much smaller than the usual transaction size. Segregated Witness was first tested on Litecoin (LTC). After seeing its success, SegWit was then implemented in Bitcoin which was introduced under the name Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP 141) in August 2017.

At this stage of Bitcoin (BTC) development, the Bitcoin developer community, users, companies, and the mining community needs to encourage the activation of safer alternatives. Given the lack of peer reviews and the Bitcoin Unlimited software being not ready to use, SegWit seems to be the best alternative so far. Therefore, Bitcoin is only capable of processing 7 to 10 transactions/sec at the base layer. The existence of SegWit makes the Bitcoin network capable of processing millions of transactions per second. So that it can be a safer and faster payment solution.

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

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I have known steemit since mid-2017 and a few years after that a platform called Hive appeared and attracted the attention of many people, at first I didn't really understand why hive was similar to steemit (almost exactly the same). I don't really know about the hard fork that occurred between the two platforms, whether there is an internal conflict in steemit or something else that caused the hard fork to occur.

^{Steemit logo source and Hive logo source} After researching from various sources on steemit and other blockchain platforms, I finally found an answer regarding what happened between Steem and Hive. On March 20, 2020. Steem conducted a Hard Fork, which resulted in the formation of the Hive blockchain, and all user data on Steem was also copied in the new blockchain, and apparently confused most of its users, including me. Hive has the exact same features as Steem, if in Steem there is Steem Power (SP), Steem Dollar (SBD), and Steem.

^{Steem wallet source}
The Hive platform also has several features such as Hive Power (HP), Hive Dollars (HBD), and Hive coin.

^{Hive Wallet source}

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• Steem Genesis Block

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• Go to steemworld.org and click menu Block Explorer
  
  ^{website steemworld.org source}
• Press numpad 1 on Block Number
  
  ^{website steemworld.org source}
• information about Block 1 will appear from the Steem Block Explorer. Some of the information that can be seen include:
• Time Stamp
• Block ID
• Signing Key
• Witness and
• Witness Signature
  
  ^{Steem block 1 explorer on steemworld.org source}

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Hive Genesis Block

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• Go to hiveblocks.com
  
  ^{Hive Blocks source}
• Press numpad 1 on search tool
  
  ^{Hive Genenis Block 1 Explorer source}
• information about Block 1 will appear from the Hive Genenis Block 1 Explorer. Some of the information that can be seen include:
• Time Stamp
• Block ID
• Signing Key
• Witness and
• Witness Signature
  
  ^{Hive Genenis Block 1 Explorer source}

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• Similarities in Steem and Hive Genesis Blocks

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• Steem

^{Steem block 1 explorer on steemworld.org source}

• Hive

^{Hive Genenis Block 1 Explorer source}

Conclusion

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Soft fork and Hard Fork are changes or updates that will occur in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, however, these changes will certainly have an impact, including that both blockchain networks will still be used by users but there will be a blockchain network that is more dominant than the other blockchain network.

Thank You