Soft Fork
Categories: Financial Theory
A tough implement with which to eat spaghetti...though sometimes it's necessary, if you happen to be very clumsy and liable to miss your mouth completely every once in a while and give an accidental jab at your eye. Very dangerous with a hard fork.
However, in this case, we're not talking cutlery. We're talking cryptocurrency.
A soft fork refers to a situation where a software protocol is changed on a currency. Think of it like coming to a fork in the road. The program directing how the currency works is turning onto a new road. The soft fork doesn't mean a complete overhaul. It's more gentle. A curve in the road that changes direction. After a soft fork, the new version can still operate with the old version.
This situation is opposed to a hard fork. When a hard fork happens, its a monumental change...revolution, not evolution. The old version no longer works. Basically, taking a 180 over a highway median. Now you're going in a completely different direction.
