What Is Hard Fork?

Hard fork is a term in blockchain and cryptocurrency that refers to a significant change in a network protocol that makes previously invalid blocks or transactions valid, or vice versa.

Simply put, a hard fork is like a major update to a system that makes the new version no longer compatible with the old version. Imagine you have an app on your phone, and one day there's a big update that the app can no longer communicate or work together with the previous version. This is what happens to a blockchain when a hard fork is performed.

When a hard fork occurs, the blockchain splits in two: one part continues to follow the old rules, while the other part moves with the new rules. This can be likened to splitting the road into two different directions. Each of these directions then proceeds independently, creating its own new history.

Hard forks are often done to add new features, fix security issues, or change the basic workings of the blockchain. As a result, people who own cryptocurrency on the original blockchain will usually get the same amount of new cryptocurrency on the forked blockchain.

It is important to remember that these hard forks can have a big impact on the value of cryptocurrencies, as they can cause uncertainty or excitement among its users. So, a hard fork is an important event that can change the direction and way a cryptocurrency works.

One famous example of a hard fork is the split of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, where the Ethereum community decided to hard fork in response to the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) incident.

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