how hard forks work
a hard fork is when a new blockchain version emerges that is incompatible with the original version it is not always an adverse event in fact many blockchains have undergone hard forks to implement necessary changes blockchains are basically programs that create and store files of information on a network of computers and devices there are usually layers of software completing different tasks some methods for the network to reach an agreement on the blockchain s state and many network participants each layer s underlying programming can be changed as needed but it has to be accepted by the network s participants to be adopted developers cannot force changes on a public blockchain that relies on participation public blockchains rely on their participants so changes must be implemented by them not forced upon them otherwise they can refuse to accept the changes and keep their preferred version because blockchains are essentially programs and scripts they can be affected by errors bugs network communication problems hardware failures or other issues blockchains also rely on a large number of network participants to host versions for security 