What is a smart contract?

A smart contract is a self-executing computer program designed to automate, facilitate or enforce specific contractual terms in a decentralized environment, typically on a blockchain.

These contracts are written in the specific programming language and are stored on the blockchain, guaranteeing automatic execution of the contract terms as soon as the predefined conditions are met.

Smart contracts eliminate the need for intermediaries, reducing costs and increasing efficiency in diverse areas such as financial transactions, insurance, real estate and other sectors where automated agreements can be advantageous.

In fact, the creation of Ethereum gave rise to dApps for Decentralized Applications (which are themselves smart contracts). There has been a huge proliferation of tools available to cryptocurrency holders.

For example:

1. From decentralized exchange platforms
2. Decentralized games
3. NFTs
4. decentralized lending and borrowing platforms
5. decentralized microservices platforms,
6. In short, a multitude of apps are starting to replicate the platforms we already know like Airbnb, Fiverr, etc.