How Does Ethereum Handle Forks?
Ethereum, like many blockchain networks, can experience forks, which occur when there's a divergence in the blockchain protocol. This can happen for various reasons, including upgrades, community disagreements, or security issues.
There are two primary types of forks: soft forks and hard forks. Soft forks are backward-compatible upgrades where only a subset of nodes needs to upgrade. They often allow for changes such as implementing new features or improving network security without disrupting the existing chain. Hard forks, on the other hand, create a new version of the blockchain that is not backward-compatible. All nodes must upgrade for the new rules to be accepted.
An example of a significant hard fork in Ethereum's history was the DAO hard fork in 2016, which resulted from a hack that exploited vulnerabilities in the DAO project. The Ethereum community chose to create a hard fork to reverse the hack, which led to the split between Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). This division highlighted differing opinions on immutability in blockchain technology.
In addition to governance processes that guide forks, Ethereum developers utilize Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) to discuss and implement changes. These proposals allow the community to evaluate and contribute to potential upgrades, fostering transparent discussions on the network's future direction.