A cryptocurrency fork refers to a split or divergence in the blockchain network that results in two separate paths. This can occur for various reasons, such as disagreements within the community about changes to the protocol.
There are two main types of forks: hard forks and soft forks. A hard fork is a permanent split in the blockchain, where new rules are introduced that are not compatible with the old chain. This results in the creation of a new cryptocurrency. On the other hand, a soft fork is a temporary split that is backward-compatible, meaning nodes with new software can still interact with nodes running old software.
After a fork occurs, there are two separate blockchains and two versions of the cryptocurrency. Users may need to take action to ensure they are using the correct version of the cryptocurrency. Forks can be contentious, leading to community division and uncertainty about the future of the cryptocurrency.
