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Soft fork
A soft fork is a change to a blockchain's rules that makes them stricter, so blocks following the new rules are still accepted by nodes that have not upgraded. In Bitcoin it can take effect without splitting the chain, provided miners with most of the hashing power enforce the new rules.
What it means for you. Your coins and older wallet software keep working after a soft fork, but an old node no longer checks every new rule and relies on the upgraded majority for those checks. Features a soft fork adds, such as new address types, work only once your wallet supports them.
Sources: Bitcoin Developer Guide: Block Chain (consensus rule changes), BIP-141: Segregated Witness (backward compatibility) · checked 4 October 2026
Hard fork
A hard fork is a change to a blockchain's rules that loosens or breaks them, so blocks made under the new rules are rejected by nodes that have not upgraded. If some participants never upgrade, the chain splits permanently into two, each with its own history from the split onward.
What it means for you. If a hard fork splits a chain, balances from before the split are recorded on both chains, because both share that earlier history. Whether coins on either side can be moved or sold depends on wallets, nodes and exchanges choosing to support that chain.
Source: Bitcoin Developer Guide: Block Chain (consensus rule changes) · checked 4 October 2026