Hard Fork
A rule change to a blockchain that old software rejects, so everyone must upgrade or the chain splits in two.
A hard fork is a fork that breaks compatibility. New blocks follow rules that older software considers invalid, so every node has to upgrade to keep up. If nearly everyone does, it's just a planned upgrade, and many chains do it routinely.
If part of the community refuses, the road splits. Two chains carry on from the same history, each with its own coin, and anyone holding coins before the split ends up with both. Bitcoin Cash (2017) and Ethereum Classic (2016) were born this way.
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