The ultimate list of Bitcoin forks

Bitcoin forks are one of the prominent aspects of the cryptocurrency and blockchain landscape. Public blockchain networks such as Ethereum and Bitcoin operate on a foundation of decentralization that focuses on achieving consensus among all network participants about the state of the blockchain network. Unanimous agreement among network participants is essential to create a single blockchain containing data on verified transactions. The list of Bitcoin forks is evidence of the consequences of not reaching consensus on the expected future state of the blockchain.

Forks are a common solution in scenarios where a blockchain network needs to change how it operates. As of November 2023, there are over 70 active forks on the Bitcoin network. Technically, you can find over 100 different forks throughout the timeline of Bitcoin history, but many of them are inactive. Let’s learn more about forks and understand the details of the most notable Bitcoin forks.

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What is a Fork in Blockchain?

Your curiosity about Bitcoin forks may have sparked an interest in learning how forks work. The forking mechanism involves copying and modifying the source code to create a new blockchain from the original. Forks are common in open-source blockchains, which provide the flexibility to access, edit, and modify the code without restrictions.

You can find answers to questions like “How many Bitcoin forks are there?” in categories like Codebase and Live Blockchain Forks. Codebase forks involve copying the blockchain code and modifying it to suit your needs. Most altcoins use the Bitcoin code with little or no changes to create a completely new experience.

Live blockchain forks include accidental or temporary forks and intentional forks. Accidental or temporary forks occur when network nodes have conflicting opinions about the chronological order of events. Intentional forks are created by intentionally modifying the blockchain code for various purposes, forming soft and hard forks.

A soft fork refers to a modification of a blockchain protocol in a backwards-compatible manner, meaning that there is no conflict between the old and new rules. A hard fork is evident in scenarios where the software required to run a full node is changed. This means that all nodes operating on the new chain will have to update their software or protocol to match the new chain. The most notable highlight of a hard fork is that it is not backwards compatible with the original blockchain.

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The Purpose of Blockchain Forks

Finding the most popular Bitcoin forks will likely also make you wonder about the need for forks. Do blockchain forks provide meaningful benefits? Many other similar questions may come to mind when thinking about forks of popular blockchains like Bitcoin. The benefits of blockchain forks can help you understand why Bitcoin forks are necessary.

First of all, blockchain forks help add new features through regular upgrades. Most public blockchains are open source, and network participants can use forks as a solution to release new versions and fix problems. For example, the best Bitcoin forks may aim to fix security issues or create an entirely new cryptocurrency. Forks can also help the blockchain community halt all transactions for a period of time when they identify malicious transactions.

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What are the most notable Bitcoin forks?

Throughout the history of the Bitcoin blockchain, there have been over 100 forks. However, most of them have failed to gain traction with the broader blockchain community and are no longer functional. Let’s take a look at some of the best Bitcoin forks that have played a significant role in changing the cryptocurrency landscape.

The first addition to the list of hard forks on the Bitcoin blockchain was Bitcoin XT. It was focused on implementing new features and achieving better transaction speeds on the Bitcoin network. This fork was primarily aimed at increasing the block size to almost 8MB. However, its popularity has declined sharply since its implementation.

At the time of its creation, Bitcoin XT had over 1,000 nodes. The project began to decline in early 2016, despite being a hard fork of Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin XT is still maintained, albeit on a smaller scale.

The discussion of Bitcoin fork list price estimates also draws attention to the failure of Bitcoin XT. It laid the foundation for developers to expand the block size, which led to the creation of Bitcoin Classic. Bitcoin Classic aimed to increase the block size to 2MB. This fork gained popularity in 2016 with nearly 2000 nodes.

As of now, the project has only about 100 nodes and is still in existence. Within 8 months of launch, the project changed direction and focused on block sizes that fit market requirements.

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The next addition to the list of Bitcoin forks is Bitcoin Unlimited, which gained popularity in January 2016. It is still popular, although not at the level it was at when it was launched. At the same time, it is just behind the Bitcoin Core network in terms of number of nodes. Bitcoin Unlimited has about 650 nodes on the network.

Bitcoin Unlimited’s forking strategy is a unique example. Bitcoin Unlimited released its code without clear guidance on the type of fork it would use. Bitcoin Unlimited’s design suggests that the network would need 75% or more miners to approve a transaction. Miners would be able to choose the block size in this hard fork, and they would also have the flexibility to set limits on the acceptable block size.

Segregated Witness or Segwit is another popular Bitcoin fork that caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community for a different reason. It was proposed as an idea in December 2015 and gained immense popularity within a few weeks. Segwit is one of the best Bitcoin forks that took an innovative approach to creating a new fork. The proposal for Segwit included BIP 41, which was used as a kind of hack to reduce the size of Bitcoin transactions.

Bitcoin transactions include various components such as signatures. Segwit works by removing signatures to reduce the transaction size. In fact, signatures make up about 60% of the entire Bitcoin blockchain. Segwit works by storing signatures in an extension block, a special type of data structure in this fork. Segwit also stands out for providing a solution to transaction malleability, which was a strong bug in the Bitcoin blockchain.

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The answer to the question of ‘how many Bitcoin forks are there’ naturally leads to Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash became a popular Bitcoin fork to solve the scalability problem. Many people did not like Segwit because it occurred on the Bitcoin blockchain and the only solution was to implement an abrupt hard fork. Interestingly, the Bitcoin Cash fork did not wait for support and assigned a specific date for it to diverge from the Bitcoin blockchain.

Bitcoin Cash wallets have been rejecting Bitcoin transactions and blocks since August 2017. The Bitcoin Cash fork has gained support from popular influencers and major cryptocurrency wallets. Bitcoin Cash mining is a more profitable option as miners can switch from the main blockchain to Bitcoin Cash if Bitcoin Cash gains value.

In the case of Bitcoin, the discussion about the price of Bitcoin fork listings is gaining a lot of momentum. Bitcoin Cash has seen a lot of volatility since its creation. It is also important to note that most of the Bitcoin Cash created from forks are unclaimed.

The list of Bitcoin hard forks also draws attention to Bitcoin Gold. This happened in October 2017, shortly after Bitcoin Cash was launched. Bitcoin Gold is one of the most popular Bitcoin forks that aims to solve the problem of mining centralization. Bitcoin Gold supports mining using basic GPUs, without relying on specialized hardware.

One of the most promising highlights of Bitcoin Gold is its pre-mining facility. The development team has mined about 100,000 coins since the fork and allocated them to the governance of the Bitcoin Gold ecosystem. Bitcoin Gold is different from the proof-of-work algorithm, but it follows many of the basic principles that underpin Bitcoin’s design.

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Final Thoughts

The utility of forks in the blockchain environment provides several compelling reasons to think about Bitcoin forks. You can find several additions to our collection of the best Bitcoin forks that are still active. Hard forks and soft forks of the Bitcoin blockchain play an important role in the blockchain and cryptocurrency environment. Popular altcoins in the global cryptocurrency market are designed using forks of Bitcoin’s codebase.

As you delve deeper into the cryptocurrency world, you will find that Bitcoin forks will improve blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the long run. The success of existing forks will pave the way for new forks to meet various new needs. Learn more about upcoming Bitcoin forks and discover their significance right now.

*Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as investment advice and is not intended to provide investment advice. The claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains is not responsible for any losses suffered by anyone relying on this article. Do your own research!