A hard fork is a change in the crypto asset protocol that is incompatible with previous versions, meaning that nodes that do not update to the new version, will not be able to process transactions or push new blocks to the blockchain.

Hard forks can be used to modify or improve existing protocols, or even to create new, independent protocols and blockchains. A hard fork can also be thought of as an event that occurs when a crypto asset development team agrees to implement a new feature or change to the coin’s programming system.

Hard forks can cause incompatibility between old and new versions, so all crypto asset users need to update all applications related to this coin to keep it handled properly.