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ssss1 An example of a hard fork.

When the currency reaches that block number, the community splits in two. Some people decide to support the original set of rules, while others support the new fork. Each group then starts adding new blocks to the fork it supports. At this point, both blockchains are incompatible with each other, and a hard fork has occurred. In a hard fork, the nodes essentially go through a contentious divorce and don’t ever interact with each other again. They don’t even acknowledge the nodes or transactions on the old blockchain. See Book 2, ssss1 for more about correcting actions with a hard fork on a blockchain like Ethereum. (And if you’re curious about forking in the context of cryptocurrency mining, flip to Book 6, ssss1.)

On the other hand, a soft fork is the type of breakup where you remain friends with your ex. If the developers decide to fork the cryptocurrency and make the changes compatible with the old one, then the situation is called a soft fork. You can see the subtle difference in the example shown in Figure 2-2.