A forked blockchain occurs when a blockchain splits into two separate chains, resulting from changes in the protocol or rules governing the original chain. This can happen for various reasons, such as disagreements among developers or the community about how the network should operate.There are two main types of forks: soft forks and hard forks. A soft fork is a backward-compatible change that allows non-upgraded nodes to still process transactions, while a hard fork is a more significant change that creates a permanently divergent chain. In a hard fork, nodes must upgrade to the new version to participate in the network.Forks can lead to the creation of new cryptocurrencies. For example, Bitcoin Cash was created from a hard fork of Bitcoin in 2017 due to differing views on scalability. While forks can stimulate innovation and accommodate diverse opinions, they can also create confusion among users and may affect the value of the original and new coins.