7 Main Platforms to Create Smart Contracts or Intelligent Contracts
Commercial or commercial contracts , in general, are a very important tool in companies whose scope is essential to understand . Much progress has been made in the digitalization of these tools to meet the complex needs of new markets, emerging technologies such as smart contracts, which will undoubtedly help to strengthen, to remove intermediaries in the value chain of your business, to Get paid faster and reduce the risk of fraud.
What are Contracts for?
Contracts serve to establish and record the commitments of both parties in a relationship.
Contracts are relationships.
More specifically, they are the visual representation of a relationship.
Of a connection and joint work, which benefits both parties.
Contracts give transparency to the relationship, prevent conflicts and mitigate risks.
They clarify expectations.
They serve as a tool for collaboration, communication and coordination in business .
They help the entire organization focus and maintain compliance.
They increase operational efficiency, because they energize the activity of companies , making them get to work, operate more safely, and more intelligently.
And from the reactive point of view, ex post, that is, in the event that a conflict arises, the contract safeguards the interests of the parties.
What are smart contracts or intelligent contracts?
Smart contracts are simply lines of code. Small programs are stored in a chain of blocks, or blockchain . They have the superpower to execute and assert themselves, autonomously and automatically, based on a series of programmed parameters. They auto-execute when predetermined conditions are met. They follow the if-then rule . If A occurs, B will automatically be executed. Period.
It is a digital vending machine:
It does not have employees (intermediaries). If you supply enough funds and make the right selection, you will get the product you want.
It is deterministic, that is, there is no uncertainty.
From a legal point of view, it is great. It is the basis of B2B law.
And from a commercial point of view, it is an ideal tool. There are no surprises. There is no possibility of fraud.
No lawyers needed for coding (you could do it)
Nor banks for financial management.
With smart contracts, you simply enter a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ether, stablecoins, for example) into the vending machine (into the ledger), and the escrow document, mortgage, or notarial act or deed , the contract, or the physical or digital good, the NFTs, the driver’s license or any other type of contract, falls on your account.
For example, a Smart Contract could be formalized to stipulate that the cost of shipping merchandise will depend on the date it arrives at its destination. With the terms established by both parties and written in the Smart Contract ledger , the corresponding funds will change hands automatically when the merchandise is received. In this post I discussed in depth the topic of What are Smart Contracts or Intelligent Contracts: Characteristics, Examples, Their Advantages,
Smart contracts automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be immediately sure of the result, without the participation of any intermediary or waste of time. And at very low cost.
Types of Smart Contracts or Smart Contract
Legal Smart Contract: it is the one that legally binds two parties for the fulfillment of an agreement. The most common.
Decentralized autonomous organizations: links implemented blockchain communities.
Logic App Contracts: Allows interaction and communication between multiple devices.
Smart Contract Platforms or Smart Contracts
Smart contract platforms are responsible for verifying, facilitating and enforcing smart contracts.
They provide the blockchain foundation that this type of contracts need, offer testing and programming services for smart contracts and all the infrastructure necessary for their implementation and execution.
1. Ethereum
Ethereum is an open-source blockchain platform for building applications and organizations, forming assets, conducting end-to-end transactions and communications without interference from any type of central authority.
And with functionalities for the development of smart contracts.
It has its own cryptocurrency called Ether , which is used to pay within the network. On its website you must click on the Use Ethereum tab and you will be able to access the Decentralized Applications or DAPPS area. With all Tools and Services based on Ethereum . And below, at the end of the page, there is a link about Smart Contracts where they offer you all the information about Smart Contracts
One of Ethereum ‘s weak points is its high energy consumption, and the reason is that its verification mechanism for new Proof of Work (PoW) operations requires intensive mining activity.
Although, as they themselves state, they consume less energy than Bitcoin, but more than the alternative Proof of Stake (PoS) system, which is the one they are on the way to adopt to consume less energy, save their users money and be more ecological.
2. Solana
Solana is a decentralized opensource Blockchain platform for creating scalable and easy-to-use applications.
And facilitates the development of Smart Contracts .
It differs from crypto applications based on Ethereum virtual machines , because in these the program logic and state coexist in a single contract, while Solana is displayed in read-only mode and only contains the program logic.
The price of a Smart Contract in Solana is between 1 and 2 SOL (its cryptocurrency). Between 0.50 cents and 1 Euro.
3. Polkadot
Polkadot is an open source project that was created by the Web3 Foundation.
It is a blockchain ecosystem where several platforms are connected to each other, with a shared protocol.
And in fact, it allows developers to create their own blockchains with custom tokens and governance models.
Polkadot operates the Moonbeam smart contract platform compatible with Ethereum and Bitcoin . Very easy to use and widely interoperable.
Experts say it can really become the main driver for mass adoption of smart contracts.
4. Hyperledger
The Hyperledger platform is an open source blockchain framework hosted by The Linux Foundation.
It is a common, open platform that companies can build collectively and
confidently used as shared infrastructure for multi-party systems.
For sectors such as: finance, supply chain, health, foreign trade, among others.
Its promoters are large companies such as IBM, JP Morgan, Cisco, Intel, Accenture, and others.
5. Tezos
Tezos is a self-modifying crypto ledget.
Simply put, your protocols can be automatically updated if a majority of stakeholders agree.
On other platforms their protocols are immutable.
On the other hand, distributed consensus is not achieved by mining the blockchain, but rather by delegates.
It is a technical issue, which is irrelevant, but it requires much less computing power and allows greater optimization in transactions.
Tezos is considered one of the most secure platforms.
And it is the platform of choice for industries that demand exceptional precision in smart contract execution, such as aeronautics and healthcare.
6. Stellar
Stellar is a very simple and limited platform. However, it is one of the best platforms for basic smart contracts, such as exchanging money or currencies.
It combines three attributes: speed, profitability and security of transactions.
It is the platform that IBM uses to develop World Wire, a global payment system focused on streamlining cross-border money transfers.
7. NEM Smart Contract
New Economy Movement ( NEM ) is an opensource distributed ledger technology project.
NEM has its own crypto smart contract platforms, called XEM, and a cryptocurrency wallet called Nano Wallet.
In fact, it allows users to build their own blockchains.
And it works with software as a service, or SaaS.
NEM is a smart asset blockchain and aims to manage assets and data very easily. And at very low cost.
