Forks are a common phenomenon in computing software, but despite their commonality, they elude many people’s understanding. If you’ve read our guide to essential cryptocurrency terms, you’ve probably already heard a bit about cryptocurrency forks.

“Fork” is a phrase that’s come to denote any divergence in a blockchain protocol, and at its most basic is a way of describing a scenario where a split occurs.

For example, many of the altcoins that exist today started off with the same codebase as Bitcoin, only to “fork” into their own version.

There are more than a few reasons why a fork may occur, and there are even multiple varieties. This guide to cryptocurrency forks that will answer the most important questions: What is a fork? What are the different types of forks? Why do forks happen? And what are the implications?