Hard Fork and Soft Fork
Forks are changes to a blockchain's protocol that create a split in the network. They can be categorized into hard forks and soft forks.
1. Hard Fork:
➡️Cause: A radical change that is not backward-compatible, creating two separate blockchains. ➡️Effect: All nodes must upgrade to the new protocol to continue participating
2. Soft Fork:
➡️Cause: A minor change that is backward-compatible, meaning old nodes can still process transactions.
➡️Effect: Only nodes that upgrade benefit from new features, but old nodes remain functional.