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要了解什么是区块链分叉,首先我们需要了解什么是区块链。
区块链是世界各地计算机的点对点网络,不断接收新交易,它们在系统的所有参与节点中复制这些交易,并将它们存储在一个包含账户和余额的分类账中,称为“区块链”。
网络中的所有节点机器都被称为“对等点”,因为它们都运行系统软件并存储相同的帐户和余额复制数据。
就以太坊经典(ETC)而言,它不仅存储账户和余额,还存储所谓的智能合约,即管理资金的应用程序。
区块链如何运作?
正如简介中所述,区块链的工作方式是,它们始终接收新交易来转移资金,但参与机器的子组会执行所谓的“工作量证明”来密封批量的这些交易,也称为“块”。
完成这项工作、生成区块的计算机子集被称为“矿工”。
矿工使用大量的计算能力并花费大量的电力来创建所谓的“加密哈希值”,这就像密封这些块的数学邮票。
当他们构建完成所有这些工作的每个块时,然后将其发送到网络的其余部分进行验证。
一旦计算机网络的其余部分验证了这些块,它们就会将它们添加到数据库中。
这就是为什么数据库被称为“块链”或简称“区块链”。
区块链是一组规则
如果区块链是世界各地的计算机网络;
由不同大陆、不同国家、讲不同语言、不同宗教和文化的不同民族所拥有;
对于比特币,他们每十分钟就同一个数据库达成一致;对于 ETC,他们每十三秒就一致一次;
系统中所有人都是平等的,没有等级制度;
那么一定需要大量的协调!
为了完成这一惊人的壮举,所有计算机都必须遵循一套非常严格的规则,称为“区块链协议”。
These rules determine things such as how transactions must be written and sent to the network, how they must be distributed among all nodes, how miners must build the blocks, how they must be verified by the rest of the nodes, and how much the miners get paid for this work.
All the rules of the blockchain protocol are contained in what are called the software clients that must be run to participate by the computers of the network.
The most popular software client in Bitcoin is called “Bitcoin Core” and the most popular in ETC is called “Core Geth”.
If all the nodes run the corresponding client for a blockchain, and all contain the same exact blockchain protocol, then all the machines in the network can share the information and be in absolute synchronicity in a totally decentralized way.
This decentralization is the main goal of blockchains such as Bitcoin and ETC.
If any or a group of nodes have even a slight difference in the set of rules they follow in the protocol because the software client was changed, or it has bug, then they would separate, or “split”, from the network.
If even the slightest modification in the rules may cause a computer or group of computers to split from the chain, then every time that the software or the rules of the network are upgraded, the process must be handled in a very delicate manner.
This is because thousands of people around the world, who don’t even know each other, in a decentralized way, must upgrade their nodes at the same time, with the same exact set of rules, in a fully coordinated fashion to be able to stay synchronized with the main network on a global scale.
For this, blockchains such as Bitcoin or ETC have public processes, with debates and technical discussions, that serve as tools to facilitate this coordination.
In the case of Bitcoin the process is called the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal process or “BIP”, and in the case of ETC it is called the Ethereum Classic Improvement Proposal process or “ECIP”.
However, in these debates and technical discussions, many times there is no agreement or even strong controversies may arise on the future changes of the protocol.
If things get very extreme, then it sometimes happens that some nodes of the system may decide to follow a different path and separate from the network.
This is what may be called “the right to split”, which is a very critical security feature of truly decentralized blockchains.
The right to split ensures all participants that they can separate from the main blockchain if, for any reason, they perceive that rules are being changed in a way that is detrimental to the network or themselves.
A very famous example of a large blockchain split happened when the Ethereum community decided to manually hack the network to fix what they saw as a problem.
以太坊和以太坊经典原本是一条单链,但在 2016 年,系统中的智能合约被利用,因此大量参与者决定逆转该链,将资金返还给原始所有者。
然而,社区的其他成员反对这种“反向黑客”,因为它违反了系统不变性的核心精神,而这是工作量证明区块链的关键安全原则。
由于这种分歧,到了采用新规则的时候了,以太坊网络从原始的未被篡改的链 ETC 中分离出来,从那时起创建了两个区块链。
流动性问题
还有其他大规模区块链分裂的例子。
例如,“比特币现金”是比特币的分裂,是由2017年发生的一场大争议引起的。
然而,仅仅说“让我们分裂吧”并从区块链中分离出来并不是那么容易的。
有一种叫做流动性的东西对于这些系统的长期生存至关重要,特别是与小社区的小分裂。
流动性意味着区块链中必须有最低限度的参与者、活动和价值,新分支才能可持续发展。
如果没有达到这些最低限度的可持续性水平,那么分叉就会遭受失败系统的命运,例如其他已知的比特币分叉,如比特币经典、比特币 SV 和比特币 XT。
感谢您阅读这篇文章!
要了解有关 ETC 的更多信息,请访问:https://ethereumclassic.org
什么是区块链分裂?