A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein are deployed onto the Ethereum blockchain. Smart contracts allow for the automation of contract execution, as well as the enforcement of the terms of the contract.

Smart contracts have the potential to revolutionize the way that contracts and agreements are made and enforced, as they can facilitate the automation of complex processes and reduce the need for intermediaries. They are often used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, such as decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending and borrowing platforms, and other financial services.

Smart contracts are implemented using programming languages such as Solidity and are executed on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). They are stored on the blockchain and are publicly accessible, making them transparent and immutable. This means that once a smart contract has been deployed, it cannot be altered or deleted.

   The concept of smart contracts was first introduced by computer scientist and lawyer Nick Szabo in the 1990s. Szabo recognized the potential for digital contracts to revolutionize the way that agreements are made and enforced, and he coined the term "smart contracts" to describe self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code.

  Szabo's ideas about smart contracts were largely theoretical at the time, as the necessary technology for implementing them did not yet exist. It wasn't until the development of blockchain technology and the creation of the Ethereum platform in the 2010s that smart contracts became a practical reality. Ethereum's smart contract platform made it possible for developers to create and deploy smart contracts on a decentralized, blockchain-based platform.

  Since then, the use of smart contracts has grown significantly, and they are now being used in a wide range of applications, including decentralized finance (DeFi), supply chain management, and identity verification.

Essentially, everything in DeFi is a smart contract. We think in terms of tradfi still; i.e., you send/give me this, I send/give you that, vis a vis. Although the end is the same, the means are not; in DeFi you don’t  trade tokens, you enter into smart contracts which dictate what you are entitled to use to enter into more smart contracts. We don’t hold tokens in a wallet, a wallet is just an API that queries data from the blockchain an analyzes all the smart contracts that we’ve entered into.

   These are some of the most novel present and future use cases for smart contracts:

1. Decentralized finance (DeFi): Smart contracts are widely used in the DeFi space to enable the creation of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending and borrowing platforms, and other financial services.

2. Supply chain management: Smart contracts can be used to automate and track the movement of goods through the supply chain, enabling real-time visibility and transparency.

3. Identity verification: Smart contracts can be used to securely verify identities and store identity-related information on the blockchain, improving security and reducing the risk of identity fraud.

4. Governance: Smart contracts can be used to automate decision-making processes and enable decentralized governance in organizations.

5. Real estate: Smart contracts can be used to automate the process of buying and selling real estate, including the transfer of ownership and the payment of taxes and fees.

6. Charity and philanthropy: Smart contracts can be used to automate the distribution of charitable donations and ensure that funds are used for their intended purposes.

7. Energy trading: Smart contracts can be used to automate the buying and selling of renewable energy, enabling the creation of decentralized energy markets.

  Blockchain was conceptualized in 1991, and manifested in 2009 with the creation of BTC. 
  Smart contracts were conceptualized in 1996, but didn’t manifest until 2015 with the creation of Ether. 
  What’s being conceptualized today that will manifest in the next ten years? 

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OpenAI was utilized in the creation of this blog.