Chain Reorganization
Chain reorganization or reorg is the process of replacing blocks and creating new chains of data. Blockchains are made of blocks that track the transactions connected to each other. Therefore, the increasing number of transactions and competing blocks cause chain reorganization in the blockchain.
In the most used blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, nodes can build a new block for the chain at the same time and at the same position due to the volume of the users in these blockchains. When this happens, the shorter node becomes involved in the chain reorganization.
Blockchain uses this process to reorganize blocks for a secure connection between the node operators.
How Does Chain Reorganization Start?
- Chain reorganization took place when the two blockchain blocks were mined at the exact moment.
- For connecting the latest blocks, the nodes decide which block will continue in the blockchain, and it deactivates the other old and longest chain in the blockchain.
What Happens to The Old and Replaced Chain?
In the old chain block, which is called “the orphan blocks”, transactions of the blocks are deactivated and invalid. If the orphan block has exclusive transactions compared to the competing or main block, there is a chance that the orphan block may be sent to the memory pool and come back as a future block since these blocks do not record the transactions in the blockchain.
At that point, learning about forks in blockchain networks can broaden your perspective.
Properties of The Chain Reorganization Process
- It is about the agreement in the blockchain community. Since the reorganization deactivates old blocks and creates a new longest chain, it is essential to agree on the same version of the particular blockchain.
- Chain reorganization took place in seconds.
- It provides the exact copy of the ledger to all of the notes. With this action, transaction records in the blockchain keep their validity. All other nodes can continue on the same chain because of the chain reorganization.
