What the Fork? Bitcoin Forks and how to claim them

Too Long; Didn't Read

A fork is basically an alteration of the current Bitcoin protocol changing the rules. As an example, if you were playing an online game and wanted to change the rules, all other players will need to agree on the rule change. If successful, the changes are implemented and the game continues as normal. However, if the consensus was not large enough then two versions of the game are created (version #1 = old rules, version #2 = new rules). This is now a <strong>fork</strong> in the game. The same analogy applies to Bitcoin’s code.