What Is a Blockchain Hard Fork?

A hard fork in the context of cryptocurrency refers to a change in the underlying protocol of a blockchain network that makes previously invalid blocks or transactions valid, or vice-versa. This requires all nodes or users to upgrade to the new version of the protocol software. A hard fork can create a new cryptocurrency if the forked blockchain diverges from the original path. A practical example of a hard fork would be the 2017 Bitcoin network split into Bitcoin (BTC)…