What is Smart Contract?

A smart contract is a self-executing code or protocol that carries out a set of instructions that is verified on the blockchain. These contracts are trustless, autonomous, decentralized, and transparent; they are irreversible and unmodifiable once deployed. While they have several use cases, some of the most popular are various financial contracts (loans, derivatives, trading). They can also be used for legal contracts, identity management, and numerous other use cases. Popular in decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contracts can be bundled into decentralized applications (dApps) to execute more complex functions.