Smart Contracts?

a less-technical introduction

How did we make money digital?

  • Data:

    • Alice: $3
    • Bob: $2
    • ...
  • Data:

    • Alice: $3
    • Bob: $2
    • ...
  • Actions:

    • Send (amount) to (recipient)
      • Subtract amount from Sender's balance
      • Add amount to Recipient's balance

The hard part: decentralization

  • Data:

    • Creator: Alice
    • Goal: $2000
    • Deadline: Jan 1
    • Amount raised: $350
  • Data:

    • Creator: Alice
    • Goal: $2000
    • Deadline: Jan 1
    • Amount raised: $350
  • Actions:

    • Contribute (amount)
      • Increase amount raised
    • Finish
      • Send to creator or contributors

Easy to compute, hard to decentralize

Ethereum handles the decentralization

Create a contract with a transaction

Use the contract  with a transaction

Contracts have an address

Contracts have code

Contracts store data

Contracts hold money

Contracts decentralize everything

Examples

  • Crowdfunding
  • Prediction markets
  • Voting systems
  • Corporations
  • Royalties/Revenue Share
  • Games?
  • Social media?
  • ... and more!

Contact me:

peter.borah@gmail.com


Slides available at:

https://slides.com/peterbb/smart-contracts