Hello folks, got a small question.
Let's imagine I create a PoW coin, there jump in 50 miners (so 50 nodes). What would happen if I want to update the code?
- Miners can refuse to update? (that would create a fork?)
If the code update doesn't require a hard fork, nodes can choose not to update and don't really lose anything because it will be backward compatible.
If it's a radical change that requires a hard fork (eg increasing the block size), then ALL nodes need to update or else they'll be cut off from the network and will be running a different blockchain entirely.
And what if my cryptocurrency updates automatically? [/quotes]
Updates to the code are implemented by updates to the node software, so people running nodes need to choose whether they'll update or not.
would this be correct? why isn't bitcoin doing this? (to avoid that miners refuse the update, or even remove the reward for nodes that are outdated, could this work?)
Thanks!
If you force nodes to update or be kicked out of the network that is equivalent to a hardfork.
Updates are usually backwards compatible so a person running an old version of a node can be interact with new nodes without great loss of functionality.