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Blockchain technology has brought endless advances, ideas and projects to society, in general, and to companies, in particular. Surely you have already heard of the Smart Contract, an agreement between two or more parties that defines what can be done, how and what would happen if it is not done. In short, they are the rules of the game that the parties must accept.
are you going to set up your first Smart Contract? Don't worry if you don't know how to do it, in the following lines we are going to go deeper into the development and deployment of a smart contract. We will do it through a guide that we hope will help you.
are you ready, let's get started!
Building a Smart Contract
The first step needed to create a smart contract is to ask for help, rely on experts or ask for a consultancy. If you are thinking about its development it is because you have already realised its full potential, but where are you going to start? It all depends on the needs of your business.
It is common to think of Ethereum when we talk about Smart Contracts, as it provides us with its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to execute smart contracts. This virtual machine is responsible for interpreting and executing the rules or instructions that form these contracts, but with a difference: its distributed nature in the network. That is, all the nodes execute the rules. As a result, a decentralised consensus is achieved that ensures a solid network with transparent information that is impossible to modify. This advantage ultimately translates into security. See the steps you must follow in its creation:
- Planning.
what do you want to make it easier for you to create a Smart Contract? Imagine you want to increase control over the sale of concert tickets and avoid resale and the production of fake tickets. Blockchain technology could prevent this by verifying every single block, tracking information and making it impossible to modify. A simple line of code could set the price limit for reselling tickets, which would avoid buying large quantities and reselling them. It would not be profitable for them. So, think, why would you create a smart contract? What problem do you need to solve?
Thanks to this technology, tokenised tickets can be created to prevent counterfeiting - many people have already seen the potential, have you?
- Know the options of DApps.
Based on the Smart Contracts deployed on the network, we can also create the famous DApps, i.e. applications composed of smart contracts that are executed on the Ethereum node network. This is the largest platform ever created and uses its own language to write the contracts. However, there are other options, such as Lisk, a DApp based on JavaScript.
The backend code of DApps are software programmes that do not need a central authority to function, as they work directly with the users.
- Build the contract with the appropriate language, e.g. Solidity.
For example, with Solidity. It differs from JavaScript in specific aspects, such as hash functions and the semicolon requirement. If you create your first contract with Ethereum, it is advisable to use the remix.solidity.org development environment. Perhaps the most complicated part of working in Solidty is the integration of your contract with JavaScript, but the first step is to migrate it to your test network. Another difficulty to overcome when creating smart contracts is their conceptualisation.
where to use a smart contract?
Health-related data records can be encrypted and stored on the blockchain with private key that would only give access to certain individuals. In addition, it can also be used to ensure that research is being conducted under the regulations governing its activity. It could even be used for general medical management as well.
The automotive sector is also experiencing the revolution of blockchain technology and smart contracts in the production chain. Thanks to these advances, data can be pooled to boost the development of autonomous vehicles, control the traceability of manufactured parts, optimise the cost of logistics, prevent fraud, enable the connection between vehicles and manufacturers, automate processes, etc. In addition, vehicle insurance companies could also benefit from Smart Contracts because they can consult the conditions under which their customers drive their vehicles.
The supply chain could benefit from smart contracts by registering changes of ownership, transferring payments automatically, etc. The blockchain applied in logistics enables a huge impact on the supply chain. Every change would be registered.
The banking sector has so far felt the blockchain technology revolution the most due to its application in cryptocurrencies. Since the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, launched the first virtual currency in 2009, the financial sector has experienced a real revolution in the decentralised economy. An example of this evolution are the more than 1,300 cryptocurrencies that currently exist, as well as the launch of Banco Santander's One Pay FX payment service in 2018. This is the first international payment service based on blockchain.
The tourism sector has also felt the call of this incessant technology, which constitutes a key piece for the digital transformation of companies. In this sense, blockchain brings with it important advances in the secure management of the personal and banking data of tourists for companies and the users themselves. The consequences will be reflected in the reduction of fraud and claims, as well as the improvement in the management of reservations in hotels, hostels, etc.
The energy sector could not escape the revolutionary blockchain technology either, which can increase security in the management of smart contracts, and act on the delocalisation of the energy market towards small producers and consumers. The sector has found in the blockchain a perfect ally to manage energy consumption.
On smart contracts
In short, the possibilities of smart contracts, as part of the blockchain, are enormous in different sectors of society, from finance to energy and tourism, among many others. Their advantages call into question the classic management processes in industries, so that different blockchain projects are already being launched. Do you want to create yours? Do you know all the possibilities of Smart Contracts?
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