Smart Contract

Smart contracts are computer software designed to automatically execute agreements on a blockchain, independent of third parties, based on conditional ('if/then') statements triggered by predetermined antecedent network states. After the core blockchain layer, which typically includes consensus, transaction execution, and storage components, smart contracts are vital for building decentralized applications and blockchain-based systems. Despite their name, smart contracts are not 'smart' or 'intelligent' in a traditional sense and execute code deterministically, although their complexity can range significantly.