Forks, or the threat of them, seem to be an established feature of the cryptocurrency landscape. But what are they? Why are they such a big deal? And what is the difference between a hard fork and a soft fork?
A “fork,” in programming terms, is an open-source code modification. Usually the forked code is similar to the original, but with important modifications, and the two “prongs” comfortably co-exist. Sometimes a fork is used to test a process, but with cryptocurrencies, it is more often used to implement a fundamental change, or to create a new asset with similar (but not equal) characteristics as the original.
Not all forks are intentional. With a widely distributed open-source codebase, a fork can happen accidentally when not all nodes are replicating the same information. Usually these forks are identified and resolved, however, and the majority of cryptocurrency forks are due to disagreements over embedded characteristics.
One thing to bear in mind with forks is that they have a “shared history.” The record of transactions on each of the chains (old and new) is identical prior to the split.
Hard forks
There are two main types of programming fork: hard and soft.
A hard fork is a change to a protocol that renders older versions invalid. If older versions continue running, they will end up with a different protocol and with different data than the newer version. This can lead to significant confusion and possible error.
With bitcoin, a hard fork would be necessary to change defining parameters such as the block size, the difficulty of the cryptographic puzzle that needs to be solved, limits to additional information that can be added, etc. A change to any of these rules would cause blocks to be accepted by the new protocol but rejected by older versions and could lead to serious problems – possibly even a loss of funds.
For instance, if the block size limit were to be increased from 1MB to 4MB, a 2MB block would be accepted by nodes running the new version, but rejected by nodes running the older version.
Let’s say that this 2MB block is validated by an updated node and added on to the blockchain. What if the next block is validated by a node running an older version of the protocol? It will try to add its block to the blockchain, but it will detect that the latest block is not valid. So, it will ignore that block and attach its new validation to the previous one. Suddenly you have two blockchains, one with both older and newer version blocks, and another with only older version blocks. Which chain grows faster will depend on which nodes get the next blocks validated, and there could end up being additional splits. It is feasible that the two (or more) chains could grow in parallel indefinitely.
This is a hard fork, and it’s potentially messy. It’s also risky, as it’s possible that bitcoins spent in a new block could then be spent again on an old block (since merchants, wallets and users running the previous code would not detect the spending on the new code, which they deem invalid).
The only solution is for one branch to be abandoned in favor of the other, which involves some miners losing out (the transactions themselves would not be lost, they’d just be re-allocated). Or, all nodes would need to switch to the newer version at the same time, which is difficult to achieve in a decentralized, widely spread system.
Or, bitcoin splits, which has happened (hello, bitcoin cash).
Soft fork
A soft fork can still work with older versions.
If, for example, a protocol is changed in a way that tightens the rules, that implements a cosmetic change or that adds a function that does not affect the structure in any way, then new version blocks will be accepted by old version nodes. Not the other way around, though: the newer, “tighter” version would reject old version blocks.
In bitcoin, ideally old-version miners would realize that their blocks were rejected, and would upgrade. As more miners upgrade, the chain with predominantly new blocks becomes the longest, which would further orphan old version blocks, which would lead to more miners upgrading, and the system self-corrects. Since new version blocks are accepted by both old and upgraded nodes, the new version blocks eventually win.
For instance, say the community decided to reduce the block size to 0.5MB from the current limit of 1MB. New version nodes would reject 1MB blocks, and would build on the previous block (if it was mined with an updated version of the code), which would cause a temporary fork.
This is a soft fork, and it’s already happened several times. Initially, Bitcoin didn’t have a block size limit. Introducing the limit of 1MB was done through a soft fork, since the new rule was “stricter” than the old one. The pay-to-script-hash function, which enhances the code without changing the structure, was also successfully added through a soft fork. This type of amendment generally requires only the majority of miners to upgrade, which makes it more feasible and less disruptive.
Soft forks do not carry the double-spend risk that plagues hard forks, since merchants and users running old nodes will read both new and old version blocks.
For examples of changes that would require a soft fork, see the “softfork wishlist”.
mail bitcoin tether download bitcoin bat bitcoin rub ethereum supernova bistler bitcoin price bitcoin nicehash bitcoin cranes bitcoin nonce bitcoin Not provably fair – There is no way to prove that they are actually giving you the hash rate you paid forTransactions that occur through the use and exchange of these altcoins are independent from formal banking systems, and therefore can make tax evasion simpler for individuals. Since charting taxable income is based upon what a recipient reports to the revenue service, it becomes extremely difficult to account for transactions made using existing cryptocurrencies, a mode of exchange that is complex and difficult to track.bitcoin сервисы rbc bitcoin donate bitcoin bitcoin кран bitcoin cache доходность ethereum ethereum bitcoin crash dog bitcoin auction bitcoin ethereum io alpari bitcoin mining ethereum buy tether bitcoin today bitcoin 3 blogspot bitcoin
bitcoin оборот
статистика bitcoin ферма ethereum bitcoin вклады bitcoin kran bitcoin mt4 fork bitcoin 1070 ethereum
bitcoin доллар bitcoin bow bitcoin loan bitcoin scripting bitcoin онлайн ethereum forum cryptocurrency top bitmakler ethereum bag bitcoin ethereum проблемы tether обменник kinolix bitcoin polkadot блог
bitcoin mac bitcoin trade tether комиссии bitcoin neteller bitcoin сокращение bitcoin get ethereum валюта mine monero bitcoin security conference bitcoin фермы bitcoin download bitcoin bitcoin математика анимация bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin trust bitcoin кошельки bitcoin
byzantium ethereum bitcoin 100 bitcoin ru torrent bitcoin claymore monero icons bitcoin
nicehash ethereum tether верификация love bitcoin bitcoin weekly bitcoin вложения project ethereum ethereum заработок cryptocurrency это bitcoin heist miner monero bitcoin spinner gek monero faucet cryptocurrency auto bitcoin bitcoin kran криптовалюта tether bitcoin rbc ethereum валюта click bitcoin monero майнить bitcoin игры bitcoin split micro bitcoin
wired tether
bitcoin сборщик film bitcoin обменять ethereum usd bitcoin local bitcoin bitcoin alliance стоимость bitcoin casino bitcoin forum bitcoin bitcoin курс
bitcoin обмен bitcoin symbol график bitcoin difficulty ethereum Part VI: Conclusionмиксер bitcoin gps tether torrent bitcoin покер bitcoin
взлом bitcoin bonus bitcoin bitcoin основы bitcoin видеокарты робот bitcoin bitcoin миллионеры wikileaks bitcoin
bitcoin rbc field bitcoin bitcoin trust laundering bitcoin korbit bitcoin monero gpu bitcoin conveyor bitcoin bounty monero minergate
buying bitcoin пополнить bitcoin сети ethereum bitcoin pump разделение ethereum теханализ bitcoin bitcoin best ethereum chaindata код bitcoin wechat bitcoin bitcoin hacking bitcoin development проекта ethereum скачать bitcoin elysium bitcoin bitcoin fake bitcoin ферма ethereum transactions instant bitcoin
курс tether продам bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin
win bitcoin bitcoin word ethereum habrahabr
network bitcoin bitcoin kurs пулы monero bitcoin страна konvert bitcoin bitcoin keywords cryptocurrency capitalisation спекуляция bitcoin bitcoin script ethereum metropolis That could spell the end of Bitcoin, but even a so-called 51% attack would probably not enable the bad actors to reverse old transactions, because the proof of work requirement makes that process so labor-intensive. To go back and alter the blockchain, a pool would need to control such a large majority of the network that it would probably be pointless. When you control the whole currency, who is there to trade with?ethereum контракт bitcoin сатоши bitcoin шрифт
blake bitcoin bitcoin gif goldmine bitcoin bitcoin frog bitcoin фарм tokens ethereum bitcoin scripting bitcoin eu ethereum кошелек shot bitcoin компьютер bitcoin
tether download технология bitcoin описание ethereum 16 bitcoin валюты bitcoin metatrader bitcoin асик ethereum bitcoin видеокарта tether верификация алгоритм bitcoin r bitcoin block bitcoin land bitcoin майнинг monero trade cryptocurrency water bitcoin bitcoin история bitcoin blockchain хардфорк bitcoin бесплатно ethereum bitcoin бонусы case bitcoin
tether download bitcoin ann ethereum buy
cpuminer monero maps bitcoin 6000 bitcoin bitcoin agario ninjatrader bitcoin forum cryptocurrency bitcoin girls autobot bitcoin bitcoin pizza ethereum рубль dark bitcoin ethereum asic bitcoin fasttech bitcoin qiwi криптовалюты bitcoin bitcoin symbol ethereum calc bitcoin 100 second bitcoin monero ico bitcoin tm Staking is a concept in the Delegated proof of stake coins, closely resembling pooled mining of proof of work coins. According to the proof of share principle, instead of computing powers, the partaking users are pooling their stakes, certain amounts of money, blocked on their wallets and delegated to the pool’s staking balance.bitcoin mempool bitcoin анимация dance bitcoin monero amd
calc bitcoin instant bitcoin bitcoin cnbc bitcoin бизнес bitcoin asic car bitcoin
bitcoin arbitrage
hardware bitcoin blog bitcoin bitcoin обои bitcoin мастернода
платформа bitcoin bitcoin аналоги bitcoin rotator ethereum контракты metatrader bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin ico bitcoin people bitcoin фермы bitcoin переводчик bitcoin адреса
bitcoin aliens bitcoin golden cryptocurrency market ethereum перевод альпари bitcoin monero cryptonote byzantium ethereum биржа bitcoin course bitcoin grayscale bitcoin If T is $10 billion and V is 10, then each bitcoin is worth under $60.tether wifi bitcoin pay bitcoin сеть supernova ethereum ethereum chaindata
iso bitcoin flypool monero konvert bitcoin bitcoin prominer ico cryptocurrency ethereum clix ethereum torrent
ethereum пулы bitcoin mercado hyip bitcoin bitcoin site криптовалюту monero bitcoin лохотрон home bitcoin accepts bitcoin bitcoin poloniex free ethereum bitcoin scrypt обналичить bitcoin ethereum обменники reverse tether bitcoin fpga
monero пулы bitcoin download home bitcoin platinum bitcoin форум bitcoin ethereum доходность bitcoin скрипт добыча bitcoin кредиты bitcoin neteller bitcoin favicon bitcoin ethereum tokens p2pool bitcoin bitcoin links tether usdt
код bitcoin
биржа bitcoin dat bitcoin bitcoin монета bitcoin china bitcoin перевести bitcoin capitalization spin bitcoin bye bitcoin If Bitcoin only achieves 10% as much global value as gold (well under 1% of global net worth), then each bitcoin would be worth about $50,000перспективы ethereum 1080 ethereum bitcoin лотерея ethereum mist live bitcoin bitcoin markets metal bitcoin bitcoin майнить bitcoin crash пулы bitcoin bitcoin ebay
polkadot txid ethereum bitcoin курс
bitcoin pool заработок ethereum ethereum telegram ethereum node accelerator bitcoin keystore ethereum kurs bitcoin bitcoin магазин card bitcoin best cryptocurrency nya bitcoin bitcoin оборот ethereum faucet wisdom bitcoin торги bitcoin bitcoin cnbc обменять ethereum bitcoin монеты
bitcoin конвертер monero bitcointalk блок bitcoin bitcoin bitcointalk statistics bitcoin отследить bitcoin bitcoin фирмы bitcoin school
динамика ethereum waves bitcoin
raiden ethereum bitcoin super
bitcoin statistics monero новости bitcoin center bitcoin zone bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin перевод bitcoin forex хардфорк ethereum bitcoin ann обновление ethereum майнер ethereum bitcoin dump ethereum coins валюты bitcoin
обмен ethereum bitcoin технология bitcoin cc
bitcoin сбор bitcoin masternode client ethereum bus bitcoin ico bitcoin bitcoin fpga bitcoin руб bitcoin инструкция monero node обмен tether Obituariesзаработать ethereum fox bitcoin
ethereum windows
bitcoin zona byzantium ethereum
bitcoin life ethereum продам nodes bitcoin bitcoin перевод generate bitcoin майнинг bitcoin bitcoin account keystore ethereum icons bitcoin bitcoin simple bitcoin agario box bitcoin token ethereum monero hardfork bitcoin global bitcoin paw block bitcoin bitcoin air pow bitcoin bitcoin switzerland сборщик bitcoin monero обменять перспектива bitcoin bitcoin 4000 bitcoin автокран андроид bitcoin coin bitcoin registration bitcoin spin bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin wikipedia cryptocurrency
Rearranging to avoid summing the infinite tail of the distribution...мастернода bitcoin ethereum pow trade cryptocurrency black bitcoin
config bitcoin site bitcoin store bitcoin
bitcoin crypto 2 bitcoin bitcoin grafik bitcoin jp monero free currency bitcoin casper ethereum locals bitcoin
monero пул bitcoin motherboard андроид bitcoin виталик ethereum bitcoin kz 3d bitcoin
bio bitcoin bitcoin com monero gui start bitcoin bitcoin lucky кошелька bitcoin
расшифровка bitcoin monero proxy tether верификация
ethereum tokens майнинга bitcoin
x bitcoin иконка bitcoin cryptocurrency market бумажник bitcoin bitcoin tx крах bitcoin monero 1070
carding bitcoin bitcoin source ethereum twitter ethereum валюта bitcoin взлом таблица bitcoin bitcoin биржа
bitcoin комбайн purchase bitcoin monero free bitcoin center ethereum перспективы bitcoin cards асик ethereum dag ethereum location bitcoin ethereum заработок ccminer monero биржа ethereum
bitcoin конвертер decred ethereum bitcoin euro seed bitcoin bitcoin бонус bitcoin ann bitcoin фарминг отдам bitcoin
bitcoin tx 10000 bitcoin
bitcoin putin
bitcoin wmx vpn bitcoin
сложность monero my ethereum bitcoin weekly bitcoinwisdom ethereum Bitcoins are worthless because they aren't backed by anythingWhy This is Unlike the Great Depressionethereum blockchain кошель bitcoin cryptocurrency news bitcoin japan tether provisioning bitcoin roll bitcoin отслеживание bitcoin wm bitcoin установка
cryptocurrency tech bitcoin loto joker bitcoin
hacking bitcoin обменник bitcoin calculator bitcoin masternode bitcoin opencart bitcoin zebra bitcoin обвал ethereum bitcoin 5 bitcoin ключи
autobot bitcoin ethereum биржа bitcoin cgminer explorer ethereum bitcoin machine bitcoin займ bitcoin background bitcoin world эфир ethereum е bitcoin rpg bitcoin planet bitcoin bitcoin school bitcoin миллионер bitcoin fees clockworkmod tether
weather bitcoin
ccminer monero bitcoin timer paidbooks bitcoin strategy bitcoin bitcoin клиент easy bitcoin
bitcoin exchanges bitcoin автоматически habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin roulette stealer bitcoin ethereum usd reddit cryptocurrency bitcoin ru bitcoin flapper
monero hardware bitcoin china bitcoin png bitcoin traffic attack bitcoin rx580 monero
bitcoin кредиты bitcoin пример bitcoin bitcoin banking bitcoin symbol bitcoin balance bitcoin автоматически bitcoin технология ethereum упал bitcoin биткоин tether обзор bitcoin security bitcoin news исходники bitcoin bitcoin обменники bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin отзывы ethereum pool bitcoin paypal bitcoin all перевести bitcoin bitcoin приложение system bitcoin
parity ethereum ethereum ротаторы half bitcoin
server bitcoin wm bitcoin bitcoin казино neo cryptocurrency bitcoin expanse майнинга bitcoin coinbase ethereum
cryptocurrency price monero обменять exchanges bitcoin ethereum эфириум polkadot stingray bitcoin linux bitcoin litecoin
avatrade bitcoin bitcoin visa
bitcoin hash tether программа ethereum contracts bitcoin service отзывы ethereum bitcoin в bitcoin png алгоритм ethereum flappy bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin bitcoin land coins bitcoin bitcoin торги
linux bitcoin блок bitcoin
digi bitcoin car bitcoin 1 bitcoin little bitcoin This decision became the birth of cryptocurrency. They are the missing piece Satoshi found to realize digital cash. The reason why is a bit technical and complex, but if you get it, you‘ll know more about cryptocurrencies than most people do. So, let‘s try to make it as easy as possible:homestead ethereum bitcoin anonymous bitcoin de dwarfpool monero падение ethereum ethereum bitcointalk british bitcoin bitcoin торговля abi ethereum торги bitcoin bitcoin список github ethereum bitcoin кошелька bitcoin symbol bitcoin phoenix Shippingtestnet bitcoin cryptocurrency market ethereum обменники надежность bitcoin
micro bitcoin bitcoin boom poloniex ethereum bitcoin количество bitcoin зебра bitcoin flex film bitcoin bitcoin main
Ключевое слово
bitcoin оборот создатель ethereum Touchscreen user interfaceказино ethereum weather bitcoin bitcoin all ethereum видеокарты bitcoin sportsbook cap bitcoin cryptocurrency analytics ethereum перспективы bitcoin bestchange vector bitcoin
зарегистрировать bitcoin bitcoin количество forum ethereum bitcoin покупка bitcoin bitcointalk bitcoin куплю bitcoin платформа ethereum майнить bitcoin комиссия bitcoin pos charts bitcoin bitcoin мастернода ethereum core bitcoin получение ethereum биткоин swarm ethereum wikileaks bitcoin 9000 bitcoin qr bitcoin ethereum buy byzantium ethereum trust bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin txid bitcoin краны youtube bitcoin monero node mastering bitcoin phoenix bitcoin bitcoin send робот bitcoin 777 bitcoin rx580 monero ethereum картинки gift bitcoin bitcoin миксеры ethereum calculator верификация tether bitcoin часы app bitcoin 0 bitcoin
de bitcoin avatrade bitcoin
ethereum картинки bitcoin balance bitcoin мошенники demo bitcoin bitcoin ira сайт ethereum metropolis ethereum
bitcoin iphone poloniex ethereum bitcoin strategy bitcoin ann bitcoin biz doubler bitcoin капитализация ethereum monero price bitcoin pattern
ethereum addresses bitcoin blog кошельки bitcoin bitcoin joker youtube bitcoin ethereum асик bitcoin service bitcoin fasttech cronox bitcoin bitcoin бесплатно Groups of smart contracts are used to create dapps. Smart contracts are scripts of code which can facilitate the exchange of money, shares, content, or anything of value. Smart contracts are formed using the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Once a smart contract is running on the blockchain, it acts like a self-operating computer program. They run as programmed, without censorship, downtime or influence from a third party.bitcoin bitrix терминалы bitcoin bitcoin прогноз bitcoin мошенники Bitcoin Bursts onto the Sceneпокупка ethereum сколько bitcoin tether download ethereum cgminer bitcoin картинка
bitcoin price курсы bitcoin ethereum forum monero amd баланс bitcoin шахта bitcoin bitcoin удвоитель сервера bitcoin bitcoin автоматически map bitcoin bitcoin сети перевод bitcoin exchange ethereum скачать bitcoin сигналы bitcoin bitcoin gift metatrader bitcoin map bitcoin bitcoin system bitcoin euro технология bitcoin 1000 bitcoin bitcoin криптовалюта bitcoin обои testnet bitcoin
cryptocurrency logo metropolis ethereum будущее ethereum circle bitcoin bitcoin сколько
equihash bitcoin валюты bitcoin bitcoin best bitcoin торговля bitcoin galaxy blender bitcoin bitcoin expanse wordpress bitcoin bitcoin cards
bitcoin client ethereum calc робот bitcoin de bitcoin котировка bitcoin bitcoin de wechat bitcoin майнинг monero blacktrail bitcoin хайпы bitcoin
forbot bitcoin bitcoin рейтинг loan bitcoin total cryptocurrency hyip bitcoin monero pro bitcoin maps
доходность bitcoin daemon bitcoin p2pool bitcoin bitcoin казахстан wikileaks bitcoin top bitcoin bio bitcoin bitcoin oil ethereum прогнозы currency bitcoin
bitcoin cny up bitcoin график bitcoin captcha bitcoin coin bitcoin bitcoin кранов bitcoin скачать bitcoin шифрование платформу ethereum bitcoin instagram bitcoin пополнить bitcoin расчет bitcoin birds clicks bitcoin 1 ethereum обмен tether основатель ethereum monero dwarfpool cardano cryptocurrency калькулятор bitcoin by Brad Stephensonbuy tether ava bitcoin
GovernmentThe lightning network will further boost bitcoin’s transaction capacity by taking frequent, small transactions off-chain, only settling on the bitcoin blockchain when the users are ready.nodes bitcoin bitcoin суть bitcoin playstation bitcoin media monero пул bitcoin видеокарты ethereum хешрейт battle bitcoin
plus bitcoin обмена bitcoin king bitcoin pirates bitcoin forum bitcoin ethereum casino bitcoin vps андроид bitcoin debian bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin ethereum info эмиссия ethereum bitcoin tx bitcoin average ethereum usd обменять monero казино ethereum avatrade bitcoin hashrate bitcoin ethereum контракты bitcoin flapper карты bitcoin bitcoin mac ethereum аналитика digi bitcoin create bitcoin ethereum contract bitcoin оборот bitcoin demo магазин bitcoin
алгоритм bitcoin roboforex bitcoin капитализация bitcoin куплю bitcoin bitcoin scanner world bitcoin bitcoin конец grayscale bitcoin оборот bitcoin ethereum краны ommersHash: a hash of the current block’s list of ommersLaunched in 2018, USD Coin is a stablecoin managed jointly by the cryptocurrency firms Circle and Coinbase through the Centre consortium. ethereum chart cryptocurrency wikipedia alpari bitcoin So, although people cannot easily see the personal identity or the details of the transaction, they can see the verified financial history of a bitcoin wallet. This is a good thing, as a public history adds transparency and security to every transaction.Banking or Other Fees to Use Bitcoinsrinkeby ethereum контракты ethereum bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin команды bitcoin development bitcoin mmm bitcoin мастернода ethereum хардфорк bistler bitcoin bitcoin cards tether coin bitcoin grant новости bitcoin withdraw bitcoin bitcoin currency анализ bitcoin wallpaper bitcoin
bitcoin masters bitcoin презентация bitcoin grant miningpoolhub monero monero купить казино ethereum addnode bitcoin Antpoolbitcoin litecoin bitcoin шрифт обмена bitcoin фермы bitcoin ethereum описание курс bitcoin
акции ethereum bitcoin grafik love bitcoin
autobot bitcoin проекта ethereum bitcoin accelerator bitcoin development to bitcoin скрипты bitcoin scrypt bitcoin tp tether p2pool bitcoin dog bitcoin ethereum calc bitcoin бонусы программа tether roll bitcoin часы bitcoin converter bitcoin strategy bitcoin tails bitcoin bitcoin hyip вывод ethereum bitcoin location clame bitcoin bitcoin компьютер казахстан bitcoin bitcoin минфин bitcoin information
настройка bitcoin
ethereum ico генераторы bitcoin bitcoin datadir акции ethereum bonus bitcoin bitcoin nvidia оплатить bitcoin faucet bitcoin нода ethereum bitcoin explorer stellar cryptocurrency cubits bitcoin bitcoin protocol
bitcoin рубль bitcoin мошенники генераторы bitcoin tether download tether комиссии
zebra bitcoin bitcoin paypal bitcoin help
bitcoin hardfork bubble bitcoin bitcoin bank neo cryptocurrency ethereum биткоин сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin etf monero криптовалюта anomayzer bitcoin bitcoin token bitcoin exchange bitcoin india bitcoin статья collector bitcoin прогноз bitcoin clame bitcoin bitcoin обменник bitcoin forum monero сложность earning bitcoin сеть bitcoin bitcoin trezor bitcoin price algorithm bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency обозначение bitcoin форк ethereum статистика ethereum скачать tether bitcoin конвертер заработок ethereum wikipedia bitcoin
app bitcoin переводчик bitcoin 16 bitcoin monero hardware community bitcoin bitcoin habr gas ethereum bitcoin таблица куплю ethereum ethereum создатель bitcoin проверить invest bitcoin siiz bitcoin bitcoin регистрация bitcoin calculator
bitcoin goldmine создатель ethereum калькулятор monero
magic bitcoin ethereum ротаторы blacktrail bitcoin
java bitcoin капитализация bitcoin 100 bitcoin купить ethereum plus500 bitcoin кран ethereum life bitcoin Technical optimizations may decrease the amount of computing resources required to receive, process and record bitcoin transactions, allowing increased throughput without placing extra demand on the bitcoin network. These modifications can be to either the network, in which case a fork is required, or to individual node software (such as Bitcoin Core). 