Blocky saysForks split a chain’s rules — soft forks are backward-compatible; hard forks are not.
A fork is a change to the protocol rules. A soft fork tightens rules so old nodes still accept new blocks (backward-compatible). A hard fork changes rules incompatibly — non-upgraded nodes reject the new blocks, potentially splitting into two chains (Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum/Ethereum Classic). Forks are how decentralized protocols upgrade — and sometimes how communities part ways.
Power-ups you unlock
Fork = a change to protocol rules
Soft fork: backward-compatible (tightening)
Hard fork: incompatible, can split the chain
How protocols upgrade and communities diverge
Double-Spend Dan attacks — common mistakes
Confusing soft (compatible) and hard (incompatible)
Assuming all hard forks create a new coin
Ignoring that nodes must opt in to upgrades
Boss battleClassify "reduce block size limit" and "increase it" as soft or hard fork.
Example code
<!doctype html><html><head><meta charset="utf-8"></head>
<body style="background:#06040d;color:#e6e0ff;font-family:monospace;padding:20px"><pre>soft fork: tighter rules, old nodes still accept
hard fork: incompatible rules → chain may split
(ETH/ETC, BTC/BCH)</pre></body></html>