Every now and then, you get a notification from your mobile bank app telling you to download an update, which may include bug fixes, improvements, and new features.
Updates of this type aren’t very controversial, since you don’t really have any influence over the changes. And if you refuse Barclay’s most recent update, you’ll soon start having security issues, or the app may just stop working.
But when it comes to updating cryptocurrencies, things aren’t that simple. In contrast to your banking app, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are open source and decentralised; so there is no ultimate decision maker.,
Open source literally means that anyone can legally copy the computer code and repurpose it, making whatever changes they see fit.
This means that if a change to Bitcoin was proposed for which there wasn’t a consensus – an agreement – there is always the risk that someone will be determined enough to literally take the project in a new direction, by creating a fork.
So a fork is essentially what happens when a consensus can’t be reached about improving a blockchain’s design and function. It is a change in the design of a blockchain creating two paths, one of which nodes and miners need to choose, like meeting a fork in a road and deciding which route to take.
For a very simple analogy, think about your favourite band splitting – because of creative differences – and forming two separate groups.
Just as a band has different roles, so does a cryptocurrency; let’s meet them.
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