Soft fork
A rule change that narrows what is valid while remaining compatible with the older rules.
In more detail
A soft fork adds restrictions that updated participants enforce. Older nodes can still accept the resulting blocks under their broader rules, but that doesn't mean they understand or enforce every new condition. Activation and enforcement still need coordination, so “backward compatible” shouldn't be read as “nobody needs to think about the upgrade.”
How you might use it
Updated Bitcoin nodes reject a spend that breaks a new restriction, even though older software would not check that restriction itself.
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