Question about blockchain fork

[SwannyMatt]

I don't really understand it. Does this mean that theoretically Bitcoin could split into two different crypto currencies? For example if someone made more significant changes to the open source code, and let's say half the people thought it was a good idea and adopted it, and the other half didn't like it and stuck with the old version? I know that's not likely but I'm using it as an example to understand the concept. Would coins get stuck on either side of the fork, or would they be duplicated on either side?

[JackPatrick]

https://i.imgur.com/NncJ5fI.jpg

[tralala]

The way I understand it this could be the case. However by definition the longer chain wins and it is unlikely both forks would grow with the same speed. Eventually one chain would grow faster and that would set an incentive to all the users on the remaining chain to jump ship. You could however start a "private" bitcoin chain with different rules and use it with whoever wants to use it for you. Note: You won't be able to transfer coins which you don't own on the "private" chain though (that would require breaking the 256bit hash).