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