What is a hard fork

[thilinanamal]

I'm a newbie to crypto world & I think it's a great help to all the newbies if we can make a discussion on hard forks.

Thanks

[Xavofat]

A hard fork is a loosening of BTC's consensus rules (such as the block size in the case of Bitcoin Cash and SegWit2x) which results in a chain split. 

This will be two separate blockchains, which will both share the same history until the time of the split.  After the split happens, they will continue on different paths.  The chain which loosens the consensus rules (the new chain) will follow their new consensus rules, while the old chain follows the previous consensus rules.

Because the chains share the same history, all users who held coins on the old chain also hold the same number of coins on the new chain.

[Gotumoot]

The hard fork is a way to split a Coins. So far the two hard-forks are Bitcoins and one is going to be on October 25. It will give life to a single currency and call it Bitcoin Gold. This is a good step for Bitcoins holders because they will receive BTG of 1: 1 I mean that your bitcoins will be 0.02BTC you will also receive 0.02 BTG.

[thilinanamal]

A hard fork is a loosening of BTC's consensus rules (such as the block size in the case of Bitcoin Cash and SegWit2x) which results in a chain split. 

This will be two separate blockchains, which will both share the same history until the time of the split.  After the split happens, they will continue on different paths.  The chain which loosens the consensus rules (the new chain) will follow their new consensus rules, while the old chain follows the previous consensus rules.

Because the chains share the same history, all users who held coins on the old chain also hold the same number of coins on the new chain.

What is the process of changing into new blockchain?
Does all members should transfer their previous blockchains to new one or is it depend on user's choise?

[thilinanamal]

The hard fork is a way to split a Coins. So far the two hard-forks are Bitcoins and one is going to be on October 25. It will give life to a single currency and call it Bitcoin Gold. This is a good step for Bitcoins holders because they will receive BTG of 1: 1 I mean that your bitcoins will be 0.02BTC you will also receive 0.02 BTG.

Do I receive this 1:1 offer if I deposit my BTC in a exchange wallet like Bittrex? or should I transfer it to coinbase?

[pooya87]

A hard fork is a loosening of BTC's consensus rules (such as the block size in the case of Bitcoin Cash and SegWit2x) which results in a chain split. 

simple small differences in what you say make huge difference in the result:
a hard fork is changing bitcoin's consensus rules which may result it a chain split.

This will be two separate blockchains, which will both share the same history until the time of the split.  After the split happens, they will continue on different paths.  The chain which loosens the consensus rules (the new chain) will follow their new consensus rules, while the old chain follows the previous consensus rules.

Because the chains share the same history, all users who held coins on the old chain also hold the same number of coins on the new chain.

all true but you forgot to mention in the first line the assumption you are making which is assuming if there is no enough support for the hard fork proposal.
OP is asking about "hard fork" in general, he is not asking what is "bitcoin cash hard fork" or things like that.

What is the process of changing into new blockchain?
Does all members should transfer their previous blockchains to new one or is it depend on user's choise?

the proposal comes out, then they do the coding, then choose a method for signalling support for it. bitcoin is decentralized so signalling is by upgrading your node to the newer version, adding some string to your "user agent" for example to support a proposal. for miners it is with changing the block versions. there are guidelines for it which you can find among BIPs (i don't recall all of them).
and in a hard fork all the network should switch because it will not be backward compatible.

[gribble]

The hard fork is a way to split a Coins. So far the two hard-forks are Bitcoins and one is going to be on October 25. It will give life to a single currency and call it Bitcoin Gold. This is a good step for Bitcoins holders because they will receive BTG of 1: 1 I mean that your bitcoins will be 0.02BTC you will also receive 0.02 BTG.

Do I receive this 1:1 offer if I deposit my BTC in a exchange wallet like Bittrex? or should I transfer it to coinbase?

The last of bitcoin's hard fork (bitcoin cash) BCH now the exchanger like bittrex they gave  1:1 
The most important of bitcoin's hard fork now is the risk losing your bitcoin on November. There is an good article related with bitcoin's hard fork now A Bitcoin Beginner’s Guide to Surviving the Bgold and SegWit2x Forks https://t.co/13PTJzn8TO
I think you must see it first to get good much knowledge of bitcoin's hard fork. Good luck

[squatter]

A hard fork is a loosening of BTC's consensus rules (such as the block size in the case of Bitcoin Cash and SegWit2x) which results in a chain split. 

simple small differences in what you say make huge difference in the result:
a hard fork is changing bitcoin's consensus rules which may result it a chain split.

The primary distinction that Core developers have drawn is that soft forks add rules and hard forks remove them. Personally, I don't think this is an ideal definition, and the BIP148 experience proved it to me even more.

The important thing is whether a fork is compatible with the original chain. That should be the primary distinction between a soft vs. hard fork, in my view. For example: Miner-activated soft forks (beyond a comfortable majority threshold for activation) are always compatible. These should be known as soft forks. User-activated "soft forks", on the other hand, are a priori incompatible. That is, they explicitly add new rules that will split from the original chain unless and until supported by a majority of the hash rate. Really, I think "UASF" is a misnomer.

Experts will argue both sides of this point, but I tend to believe that hard forks as currently defined (removal of consensus rules) will always cause a chain split. In a technical sense, even if 100% of users migrated to the hard fork chain (impossible), it is literally split from the original chain. It has no relationship to the original chain whatsoever; the "ledger" is merely a copy.

[thilinanamal]

The hard fork is a way to split a Coins. So far the two hard-forks are Bitcoins and one is going to be on October 25. It will give life to a single currency and call it Bitcoin Gold. This is a good step for Bitcoins holders because they will receive BTG of 1: 1 I mean that your bitcoins will be 0.02BTC you will also receive 0.02 BTG.

Do I receive this 1:1 offer if I deposit my BTC in a exchange wallet like Bittrex? or should I transfer it to coinbase?

The last of bitcoin's hard fork (bitcoin cash) BCH now the exchanger like bittrex they gave  1:1 
The most important of bitcoin's hard fork now is the risk losing your bitcoin on November. There is an good article related with bitcoin's hard fork now A Bitcoin Beginner’s Guide to Surviving the Bgold and SegWit2x Forks https://t.co/13PTJzn8TO
I think you must see it first to get good much knowledge of bitcoin's hard fork. Good luck

Thank you very much for your direction. I'll follow up.

[androidpobeditel]

Hey. I think that hard fork is a good idea for fans of freebies. This idea worked with bitcoin cash, and now it will most likely work with bitcoin gold. But I think that this is most likely a crap, so I will not intentionally participate in it.

[VitKoyn]

I'm a newbie to crypto world & I think it's a great help to all the newbies if we can make a discussion on hard forks.

Thanks

A hard fork is a change in the blockchain protocol which forces all users to upgrade and that failure to update will result in the client’s incompatibility with the network. One example is changing the block structure. The term fork is used because this causes the blockchain to split, with one chain of users running the updated client and another chain of users running the old.

[Emerge]

A hard fork is a software upgrade that introduces a new rule to the network that isn't compatible with the older software. You can think of a hard fork as an expansion of the rules. A new rule that allows block size to be 2MB instead of 1MB would require a hard fork.

[thilinanamal]

A hard fork is a software upgrade that introduces a new rule to the network that isn't compatible with the older software. You can think of a hard fork as an expansion of the rules. A new rule that allows block size to be 2MB instead of 1MB would require a hard fork.

Could you please explain how can this affects the market price?

[MoonIsBlue]

A hard fork is a software upgrade that introduces a new rule to the network that isn't compatible with the older software. You can think of a hard fork as an expansion of the rules. A new rule that allows block size to be 2MB instead of 1MB would require a hard fork.

Could you please explain how can this affects the market price?

I'm not very familiar with BCH hardfork, but it is obvious that people are going to withdraw their funds from altcoins (leaving them to drop) to put everything in BTC as to get as much of the new coin as possible (free money). So BTC price increases whilst all other coins find a decrease. Only more established coins like ETH can potentially withstand this.

I think and this shouldn't be taken as final. That during the actuall fork BTC price dropped significantly and made a recovery in the days/weeks after.
Most likely this is because of that the tokens are received and so people rush to buy up the altcoins they left behind for a cheaper price.
You can also take a look at marketcap history to see what happened before and after the last hardfork.

IMO hardforks are a bit of a shame to witness as it is essentially a community split. Especially since BTC is still rooting itself in the world it also sparks confusion to newcomers.
It can be intimidating especially when you try to get into BTC during a hardfork since you don't know what everyone is talking about.

[faceoff97]

Hard fork is a term used for splitting, the current coin which is bitcoin splits into something new which is bitcoin gold. The new coin was made with some development, they were proportional in valuel but going into different track. Last August 1, hard fork happened where bitcoin was split into two known as Bitcoin cash. Bitcoin holder during that time recieved 1:1 of their BTC. Hard forlk also serves as an opportunity to buy big amount of coins because of its audden decrease in value

[xiboothrezi]

Hard Fork is the name for an event that occurs when the developer team of a cryptocurrency agrees to apply new features / changes to the programming system of the coin. on the first hardfork this year there is a new coin that is launched bitcoincash. while on the second hardfork november later he will be launched bitcoingold.

[thilinanamal]

Hard Fork is the name for an event that occurs when the developer team of a cryptocurrency agrees to apply new features / changes to the programming system of the coin. on the first hardfork this year there is a new coin that is launched bitcoincash. while on the second hardfork november later he will be launched bitcoingold.

There is a another hard fork coming in November (segwit 2x) So does it means this will reduce the block size of the current & increase the transaction speed?

[pranaja]

Hard Fork is a name for events that occur when the developer team of a cryptocurrency agrees to apply new features / changes to the programming system of the coin
Hard Fork can cause a mismatch between the old and new versions, so all cryptocurrency users need to update all the applications associated with this coin in order to keep it in good working order.

[yonjitsu]

Hard fork is like an update of an older version of a particular software to maximize its functionality or enhance its features to make it even more reliable and secure. In the case of bitcoin, the blockchain is the one that needs attention.
For more information regarding hard fork, you can visit on this site: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-fork.asp

[malading]

I also want to know what is hard fork, listen to your explanation or do not understand