Blockchain forks can have severe economic implications, sow uncertainty and undermine trust. In this paper, we introduce a formal framework to study the emergence, persistency and economic consequences of blockchain forks. We argue that blockchain forks can be process- or protocol-based and emerge unintentionally or deliberately. We then proceed with a sub-classification of protocol-based forks and study the circumstances under which a chain split may become permanent. It can be shown that the persistency of a fork depends on the nature of the change to the consensus rules and on the relative allocation of the consensus-relevant resources. Lastly, we discuss business implications as well as potential consequences for policy makers and practitioners.

中文翻译：

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区块链分叉：正式的分类框架和持久性分析

区块链分叉可能会产生严重的经济影响，播下不确定性并破坏信任。在本文中，我们引入了一个正式的框架来研究区块链分叉的出现、持久性和经济后果。我们认为，区块链分叉可以是基于过程或协议的，并且是无意或有意出现的。然后，我们继续对基于协议的分叉进行子分类，并研究链分裂可能成为永久性的情况。可以证明，分叉的持久性取决于共识规则变更的性质以及共识相关资源的相对分配。最后，我们讨论了商业影响以及对政策制定者和从业者的潜在影响。