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by barmstrong 5006 days ago
In a very literal sense it can be forked: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin

You wouldn't need to try and duplicate an ecosystem. People with nodes on the network would "vote with their CPU power" to support the version they liked the best - so the best one would naturally get the most support.
2 comments
wmf 5006 days ago
the best one would naturally get the most support

I don't think so. A "better" Bitcoin fork that has no MtGox, no BitInstant, no BitPay, no blockexplorer, etc. would probably have very low adoption.

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mkramlich 5006 days ago
agree and disagree. if a fork is demonstrably, significantly better, then adoption will grow and eventually, in general, the better will win. this is how evolution works.
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gizmo686 5006 days ago
No, the most popular version will get the most support. You still have the problem that a forked chain stops being compatible, so if a node recieves coins in the new chain after the fork, the old chain won't acknowledge it. This is a big practicle barrier to implementation.

You could harvest a large number of new chain coins before you go public, and offer an exchange service, but that would involve you owning alot of new-chain bitcoin, which would be a concern to people switing in.

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