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Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork: Understanding the Difference
Any cryptocurrency enthusiast must have come across the two terms hard fork and soft fork at least once. They are frequently used and often synonymously by users in the cryptocurrency space. The innovation blockchain that is the core of cryptocurrencies is a type of dispersed ledger consisting of ever-mounting blocks of data, forming a chain. Since cryptocurrencies follow decentralized approaches, the users have to abide by a set of rules in order to confirm their transactions and to keep a consensus.
What is a Fork?
A fork happens when blockchains split in half because of the split in the record or in a modification. Forks takes place when there when more than one miner comes across a similar t block causing a dual split chain. When such a division occurs in the protocol due to change in guidelines, it indicates a modification in the basic codes by the designers. These splits are permanent in nature and can’t be undone.
To understand the procedure in greater depth and also what happens when a fork occurs, we must take a look at both hard and soft forks. A basic grasp of the two will allow us to form a distinction between the two and stop using the words synonymously.
Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork –Identifying the differences
Hard forks symbolizes a long-term deviation in a blockchain. These occur when a non-upgraded node seizes its operations and looks for confirmation regarding any modification made by an updated node.
Conversely, soft forks are short-term deviations in the blockchain. They typically occur when non-graded nodes seize their operations in order to follow new consensus rules.
Hard Forks
A hard fork characterizes a permanent and time-consuming modification from previous blockchain variations. In a layman’s terms, a hard fork is a lot like an application upgrade. Hard forks occurs when the software rejects an earlier version because of incompatibility due to the upgrade.
Soft Forks
Alternatively, soft forks are approaches to update blockchain. Although very old, they are still suitable. Simply put, soft forks are application upgrades, backward-compatible with previous versions of the application. Soft forks don’t need nodes to maintain or update a consensus within the network. This is because soft forks follow an earlier set of consensus guidelines as well as new ones.
Whenever a soft fork happens, nodes that produce blocks and follow an older consensus set breach the new consensus guidelines. To ensure a soft fork works fine, most of the miners must not only recognize the unique consensus set but also implement it within the network.
Final Word
These were some of the major differences between hard forks and soft forks. A true cryptocurrency enthusiast will easily differentiate between the two. When blockchain states are in consideration, users must always achieve a consensus. A basic knowledge about hard and soft fork will make investing better. This know-how will assist in mentoring the user to opt for the best option when trying to reap the most benefits.
Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash: What Should You Invest In?
With the growing popularity of Bitcoin, the number of users and the number of transactions conducted increased every year. Against this background, the main problem of cryptocurrency became increasingly noticeable – a limited block size of 1 MB. Until 2017, there was the talk of increasing this parameter, but the matter did not go beyond proposals. Users complained about delays in conducting transactions, which were often delayed for a day or even several days.
Many solutions were proposed, one of which was a commission increase. This approach solves the problem with the speed of operations but leads to high costs for network participants. Not surprisingly, the emergence of the Bitcoin Cash fork on August 1, 2017, was supported by the majority of the cryptocurrency community. At the same time, BTC users were divided into two groups – some remained loyal to Bitcoin, while others switched to Bitcoin Cash. What are the features of cryptocurrency? What is more profitable to mine – BTC or BTH? These and other questions will be discussed below.
What is the difference between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin?
The developers of the technology believe that the main value of Bitcoin is in itself. SegWit is said to be reliable for shipments. Another advantage is a very strong team, which, among other things, is responsible for the main Bitcoin clients.
The main advantage of Bitcoin Cash is “fast” transactions. Block size increased to 8MB. Because of this, the commissions remain at early levels of cryptocurrency development – up to $ 0.1. The developers at the moment have not solved the problem of the unreliability of shipments, but they have a plan for how to achieve this.
Bitcoin investment
No cryptocurrency can replace Bitcoin. This is the main source of income for crypto traders, the main object of investment. There are no alternatives to the cue ball, so investing in this cryptocurrency is profitable. It is not even about its reliability, popularity, and volatility. There is a demand for bitcoin. His course increases many times, which makes it possible to earn good money on short-term investments.
Bitcoin Cash Investment
For investors who make transfers and payments regularly and in large quantities, it is best to use Bitcoin Cash. This is a convenient and least expensive tool. In addition, the cache is able to accelerate and overtake in terms of growth the main cryptocurrency – the cue ball. Regular course correction allows you to buy Bitcoin Cash at a bargain price.
Conclusion
Overall, Bitcoin Cash has better growth prospects. A virtual coin has all the characteristics required for a modern cryptocurrency – a large block size, better transaction speed, a high level of security and the possibility of mining. As for profits, on June 1, 2018, there is not much difference that there is no mining. That is why when choosing a cryptocurrency, it is important to focus on long-term goals. If we are talking about mining in order to keep coins in your wallet, the variant with Bitcoin Cash looks more interesting. But Bitcoin is also not worth writing off. In the short term, he is able to show good growth. What will happen in 1-2 years or more is difficult to predict.
What is Gemini?
The exchange is located in the United States and began its operations in 2015 after it was approved by the State Department of Financial Services of New York. The owners of the site – brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss immediately set a goal to make it a fully regulated global digital asset exchange. Initially, the exchange aimed mainly at attracting institutional investors. Later, she began to express interest and private traders. The site interface is made exclusively in English since the site team is interested in large players from highly developed countries. Gemini is considered to be one of the most reliable cryptocurrency exchanges, as it works with individual investors and investment funds in full compliance with the requirements of the law.
Supported Coins on Gemini
For a long time, the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange traded only Bitcoin, Etherium and USD. Recently, a digital coin Zcash was connected to the exchange. Total on-site trading is possible for 6 trading pairs: BTC / USD, ETH / USD, ETH / BTC, ZEC / USD, ZEC / BTC and ZEC / ETH. The leading position with a large margin in daily turnover is occupied by a pair of BTC / USD, i.e. the one for which, first of all, the exchange was created. The turnover of the pair is 30 million dollars per day. The second place is occupied by ETH / USD with a large lag in turnover, its volume is equal to six million dollars a day.
Commission Fees on Gemini
The commission on the Gemini exchange is at an acceptable level for trading. Restrictions on cryptocurrency crediting are completely absent. When crediting a deposit in US dollars, the user can deposit no more than $ 500 per day on his personal wallet. And, accordingly, up to $ 15 thousand per month. There is also a limit on the withdrawal of funds for a dollar account, which is equal to $ 100 thousand per day. There are no restrictions on withdrawal of funds in cryptocurrency. Gemini does not take commissions for input and output, which is a very positive thing for traders. The site allows you to directly deposit and withdraw dollars. To enter funds, during the registration of a new user, you need to bind the account in the bank to the account on the exchange. Do not forget that each bank can charge transactions
Security Measures
The implementation of a qualitative level of security is the most important direction for the operation of any cryptocurrency exchange. Gemini is responsible for this issue. A well-known face was involved in the work on defense – Than Paya. This person is known for the successful organization of the Airbnb security service, as well as his participation in building Google Wallet.
Gemini is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. There is no official statement about hacking the exchange. The site has an impeccable reputation in the cryptocurrency market. Gemini specialists are making great efforts to implement a quality level of security. That is why on the site you can find a large number of clients and larger organizations with a solid size of the investment portfolio. The site operates under the control and in strict accordance with the requirements of the Financial Services Department of New York, which gives a certain level of confidence in the quality of the Gemini protection level.
In general, the security level of Gemini users is at a high level, as evidenced by the high level of site demand among cryptocurrency traders.
How Ethereum Works
Only the best developments survived and continued to develop, those that were able to offer consumers new, interesting ways of working, wide application possibilities and attractive prospects for the future. One of these “stars” is undoubtedly the cryptocurrency Ethereum, here we call Ethereum or simply Ether. Despite the fact that you cannot call it new, investors have not yet lost interest in it, its popularity is growing day by day, and some experts (and there are quite a lot of them) are sure that Aether is able to compete on equal terms with Bitcoin and even select the last palm.
Branching Ether
In the history of Ethereum was not without the “black” pages. The year of 2016 turned out to be unfortunate, when hackers broke into The Dao (a venture fund based on Ether) and stole, as much as 64 million USD. Naturally, the crypt was stolen, we just brought its equivalent in dollars. In order to somehow get out of the predicament and compensate the losses to the affected users, the currency was divided into 2 independent branches – Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). The separation, along with the burglary, markedly lowered the coining course, it took a long time to recover. But after all these twists and turns, the value of the currency began to grow, and both branches added to the price.
What is Ethereum
Technical details and specific nuances are unlikely to be of interest to the masses, so we will try to explain everything simpler. Ethereum is an open-source crypto platform operating on the blockchain technology. In other words, this is the base on which developers can build and deploy decentralized applications.
Buying and selling Ethereum
In addition to the above ways to get coins of Ether, you can also buy them. Since the currency has reached a fairly high level, it is represented on many stock exchanges and exchange offices. From well-known services, we can recommend Cex, Poloniex, Livecoin, Bitfinex. These are the largest and most reliable converters for Ethereum.
The exchanges are good because there is access to news and quotes, there is also the possibility of exchanging information with colleagues, and it is still possible to put coins on different wallets.
Is Ether trustable?
The question is not idle, and he cares about many. After all, it’s very difficult to predict what will happen to one or another digital currency in the future, and nobody wants to lose their money. Investing is generally a risky business, and if cryptocurrency is the object of investment, then even more so. After all, this market is quite specific.
But if there is no accurate data that gives confidence in the answer, then it is necessary to analyze the available information and on the basis of this analysis build more or less plausible assumptions about further developments.
What sways Ethereum, then after such an analysis, its future seems quite encouraging, although not without problematic moments. The project is young enough and, of course, not without risks. However, even if the worst happens and the platform ceases to exist, no global catastrophe will happen. Naturally, there will be losses, but not critical. But in the event of further development of the coin in an uptrend, investors can create fortunes over time.