How Does a Hard Fork or Soft Fork Change the Block Size Limit?
A hard fork is a permanent divergence from the previous version of the blockchain, requiring all nodes to upgrade to the new rules. A hard fork is typically needed to increase the block size limit (e.g.
Bitcoin Cash). A soft fork is a backward-compatible change that tightens the rules, like SegWit, which introduced the block weight limit without requiring non-upgraded nodes to stop processing new blocks.
Glossar
Block Size Limit
Constraint ⎊ Block size limit, within cryptocurrency networks, fundamentally dictates the maximum data volume permitted within a single block added to the blockchain.
Block Size
Capacity ⎊ The block size parameter fundamentally dictates the maximum data volume a single block can hold on a blockchain network.
Hard Fork
Disruption ⎊ A hard fork represents a radical divergence in a blockchain’s protocol, creating a permanent split and typically resulting in a new cryptocurrency.
Soft Fork Activation
Mechanism ⎊ Soft Fork Activation is the technical mechanism by which a backward-compatible protocol upgrade is introduced and enforced on a blockchain network, typically requiring a supermajority of miners or validators to signal their readiness.
Permanent Divergence
Trajectory ⎊ Permanent divergence, within cryptocurrency derivatives and options markets, describes a sustained and statistically improbable deviation of an asset's price or derivative value from its expected path, exhibiting a directional bias that resists mean reversion.
Block Weight Limit
Constraint ⎊ The Block Weight Limit is a protocol-enforced constraint defining the maximum permissible size for a block, measured in units of weight rather than raw bytes.