What are Bitcoin forks like BCH and BSV?
A "fork" is when a single blockchain splits into two. Forks can be categorized as hard forks or soft forks.
A hard fork is the result of an extensive network change. Each node has to upgrade its software to be compatible with the new processes.
If a node does not upgrade its software, it will be on a different blockchain.
In a soft fork, nodes running the old software are still able to validate transactions. Software forks are backward-compatible.
Bitcoin hard forks happen when the rules of the Bitcoin blockchain are changed.
These new rules create a new blockchain that shares its past transaction history with Bitcoin until the fork occurs.
After that point, the two blockchains operate independently.
The top Bitcoin forks by market cap are:
+ Bitcoin Cash (BCH):
$7 billion
+ Bitcoin SV (BSV): $1.4 billion
