Smart contracts have become a fundamental part of blockchain technology and are widely used in various industries. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use smart contracts in 2023:
- Understand Smart Contracts: Before using smart contracts, it’s important to understand what they are. A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. They automatically execute transactions without needing a middleman once conditions are met.
- Choose a Blockchain Platform: The first step in using smart contracts is to choose a blockchain platform. Ethereum is the most popular platform for creating smart contracts, but other platforms like Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, and Polkadot also support smart contracts.
- Learn Solidity or Other Smart Contract Programming Languages: If you plan to write your own smart contracts, you’ll need to learn a programming language like Solidity (for Ethereum), Rust or Solid (for Solana), or Plutus (for Cardano). These languages are used to write the terms of the contract.
- Write Your Smart Contract: Once you’ve learned the necessary programming language, you can start writing your smart contract. This involves defining the rules and conditions of the contract in code.
- Test Your Smart Contract: Before deploying your smart contract, it’s crucial to thoroughly test it to ensure it functions as expected. You can use test networks (like Ethereum’s Rinkeby or Ropsten) to test your contract without spending real cryptocurrency.
- Deploy Your Smart Contract: Once you’re satisfied with your smart contract, you can deploy it to the blockchain. This usually involves paying a fee (in cryptocurrency) to the network.
- Interact with Your Smart Contract: After your smart contract is deployed, you (and others) can interact with it. This can involve sending transactions to the contract, which will automatically execute based on the contract’s code.
- Monitor Your Smart Contract: After deployment, it’s important to monitor your smart contract to ensure it’s working as expected. You can use blockchain explorers to view transactions and confirm that the contract is functioning correctly.
Remember, while smart contracts can automate many processes, they’re also immutable once deployed to the blockchain. This means any bugs or errors in the contract can’t be changed after deployment, so thorough testing is crucial. It’s also recommended to get your smart contract audited by a third party before deployment to ensure its security.
Setting Up Your Smart Contract Environment
Selecting a Blockchain Platform
| Blockchain | Platforms | Language |
| Ethereum (ETH) | EVM | Solidity |
| Binance Smart Chain (BSC) | EVM | Solidity |
| Polygon (MATIC) | EVM | Solidity |
| Avalance (AVAX) | EVM | Solidity |
| Fantom (FTM) | EVM | Solidity |
| Optimism (OP) | EVM | Solidity |
| Solana | SeaLevel | Rust |
| Near | Wasm | Rust |
| Cosmos | Cosmos SDK, Wasm | Go |
| Polkadot | Wasm | Rust, Substrate |
| Everscale | TVM | C++ / Solidity |
Solidity-Based Blockchain Platform
| Blockchain | Platforms | Language |
| Arbitrum (***) | EVM | Solidity |
| Harmony (ONE) | EVM | Solidity |
| Cronos (CRO) | EVM | Solidity |
| Moonriver (MOVR) | EVM | Solidity |
| Moonbeam (GLMR) | EVM | Solidity |
| Aurora (AURORA) | EVM | Solidity |
| zkSync | zkEVM | Solidity |
| HECO (HT) | EVM | Solidity |
| KAVA (KAVA) | EVM | Solidity |
| Gnosis (GNO) | EVM | Solidity |
| Celo (CELO) | EVM | Solidity |
| Klaytn (KLAY) | KLVM | Solidity |
| Tron (TRX) | TVM | Solidity |
| Metis (Metis) | EVM | Solidity |
| Evmos | EVM | Solidity |
| Iotex | EVM | Solidity |
| Canto | EVM | Solidity |
| Hedera | EVM | Solidity |
Rust-Based Blockchain Platform
| Blockchain | Platforms | Language |
| Aleph Zero | DAG | Rust and ink! |
| Elrond | Arwen WASM | Web Assembly (Rust, C/C++, C#, Go, etc) |
| Astar | Wasm | Rust |
| Velas | LLVM | Rust, C/C++ |
| Telos | EOSIO (EOS) / team | C/C++, Rust, Solidity |
| Stellar | Soroban | WebAssemply (C, C++, Python, Go, Rust) |
| Oasis | Emerald Paratime (99% EVM compatible) | Rust, Solidity |
| Juno | Wasm | Rust |
| Sei | Wasm | Rust?* |
Move-Based Blockchain Platform
| Blockchain | Platforms | Language |
| Aptos | MoveVM | Move |
| Sui | MoveVM | Move |
Other Blockchain Platform
| Blockchain | Platforms | Language |
| Cardano | K(EVM) | Haskel |
| Algorand | AVM and TEAL | Python |
| WAX | EOSIO (EOS) | C/C++, |
| Flow | Hot Stuff | Cadence |
| TON | TVM | FunC |
Factors to consider when choosing a platform
Creating a wallet
- Types of wallets (hardware, software, paper)
- Setting up a wallet
- Securing your wallet and private keys
Acquiring cryptocurrency
- Buying from exchanges
- Peer-to-peer platforms
- Mining or staking
Learning the Basics of Smart Contract Programming
Understanding programming languages
- Solidity
- JavaScript
- Move
- Go
- Rust
- Python
- C/C++
- Haskel
- Cadence
Finding resources for learning smart contract programming
- Online tutorials
- Books and e-books
- Community forums and developer groups
Setting up a development environment
- Text editors and IDEs
- Compilers and testing tools
Writing Your First Smart Contract
Developing a simple use case
- Identifying a problem or need
- Designing the smart contract
Writing the smart contract code
- Defining variables and functions
- Implementing logic and conditions
- Ensuring security and best practices
Testing and debugging your smart contract
- Using a testnet
- Identifying and fixing errors
- Optimizing your code
Deploying Your Smart Contract
Preparing for Deployment
- Finalizing your code
- Understanding gas fees and deployment costs
Deploying to the main net
- Initiating the deployment
- Monitoring the deployment process
Interacting with your smart contract
- Accessing your smart contract address
- Using a dApp or a user interface
- Reading and writing data
Conclusion
- Recap of the blog post content
- Encouragement for continuous learning and experimenting with smart contracts
- Resources for further exploration in the world of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps)
People Also Ask
What is an example of a smart contract?
- Digital Advertising Campaigns: A smart contract can include conditions that a publisher achieves predetermined targets. When an oracle confirms that the publishers have done what they were supposed to, the intelligent contract triggers a payment.
- Customer Experience: For example, a shoe brand partnering with a streaming music service offers complimentary subscription time if the consumer creates a playlist to listen to while jogging. A smart contract sends the customer an offer for a discount on new shoes or suggests songs with a similar tempo to add to the playlist.
- Entertainment Consumption: A smart contract can streamline the buying, selling, and trading nonfungible tokens (NFTs). There is interest in using smart contracts to pay independent creators such as authors, musicians, and filmmakers.
- Financial Transactions: Digital currency using a smart contract could reduce the time and cost of settling transactions. Smart contracts show promise in automating manual banking processes traditionally performed by a financial institution, such as evaluating loan eligibility, processing claims, and implementing regulatory compliance.
- Healthcare Communication: Storing a patient’s chart on the blockchain could reduce paperwork processing, improve regulatory compliance, and supply detailed information sharing between providers.
- Human Resources: A smart contract could ease onboarding new employees by simplifying verification tasks. Blockchain could automate responsibilities such as enforcing employee contract terms, penalties, and paycheck processing.
- Identity and Access Management: Authenticating a user via a smart contract could augment or replace conventional identity management procedures.
- Insurance Industry: Using smart contracts could improve efficiency around sending claims, a policyholder switching insurance companies, or cooperation between insurance companies.
- Supply Chain Management: Smart contracts could increase the traceability of products and materials. For example, specific blockchain software could track an item’s origins as it moves between international supply chains, calculating tariffs immediately.
- Distribution of Utilities: It could automate electricity delivery from an energy company to a consumer. Executing smart contracts could streamline energy trading by connecting smaller energy producers. A smart contract could also certify renewable energy sources.
Is Ethereum a smart contract?
No, Ethereum is not a smart contract. Instead, Ethereum is a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts. A smart contract is an application code residing at a specific Ethereum blockchain address. These smart contracts can be called by applications to change their state and initiate transactions. They are written in programming languages such as Solidity and Vyper.
How many smart contracts are on Ethereum?
As of the beginning of 2023, 139,699 new smart contracts were deployed on Ethereum. It’s important to note that this number refers to new contracts deployed at that specific time, and the total number of agreements on Ethereum would be much larger, including all the warranties deployed since Ethereum’s inception. Unfortunately, as of your question date, I couldn’t find the exact number of smart contracts on Ethereum.
Are all smart contracts on Ethereum?
No, all smart contracts are not only on Ethereum. While Ethereum was the first blockchain platform to introduce and popularize the concept of smart contracts, several other blockchain platforms also support smart contracts. These include:
- Binance Smart Chain (BSC): A blockchain network built for running innovative contract-based applications, it operates parallel to Binance Chain.
- Cardano (ADA): This blockchain platform has a different approach to smart contracts and uses the Haskell programming language for contract creation.
- Polkadot (DOT): Polkadot enables cross-blockchain transfers of any data or asset and supports smart contracts.
- EOS (EOS): EOS supports smart contracts and offers the advantage of no transaction fees.
- Tezos (XTZ): This platform supports smart contracts and offers a unique on-chain governance model.
- NEO (NEO): Often called the “Ethereum of China,” NEO supports smart contracts and even has a unique protocol for creating digital assets.
- Tron (TRX): Tron is a platform aimed at entertainment and content-sharing and supports smart contracts.
Each platform offers different benefits and trade-offs, and the choice of medium depends on the specific requirements of the intelligent contract-based application being developed.
Is ETH token a smart contract?
Ethereum (ETH) is not a smart contract. Instead, it is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain used to power transactions and smart contracts on the network. However, many other tokens on Ethereum are created using smart contracts, following standards like ERC-20.
Is Bitcoin a smart contract?
No, Bitcoin itself is not a smart contract. Instead, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that operates on a technology called blockchain. It was the first decentralized cryptocurrency and remained the most well-known and valuable one as of my knowledge cutoff in 2021.
A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. It automatically performs the obligations of the contract when the agreed-upon conditions are met. Ethereum, another blockchain platform, popularized the concept of smart contracts.
While the Bitcoin network does support simple scripts, it’s not designed to handle the complex logic of smart contracts like Ethereum can. However, second-layer solutions like Rootstock (RSK) bring Ethereum-style intelligent contract functionality to the Bitcoin network.
Do you need a smart contract for NFT?
Yes, you do need a smart contract for an NFT. Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are based on smart contracts based on blockchain technology. NFTs are not intelligent contracts themselves, but they are minted through smart contracts. These smart contracts assign and reassign ownership of the NFT when sold, transferring it from the previous owner to the new buyer.
They also ensure that digital assets can’t be replicated and are unique. During the minting process, the creator is assigned ownership of the NFT until they decide to sell or transfer it. Additionally, NFT marketplaces use smart contracts when auctioning NFTs, and in other cases, smart contracts can give NFTs utility or deactivate them. Hence, NFTs are not possible without using innovative contract technology.
Does Coinbase use smart contracts?
Coinbase does not directly utilize intelligent contracts. It recommends that customers not send funds to smart contracts from their Coinbase account, as smart contracts often have special requirements that cannot be guaranteed when sending a transaction from Coinbase. Instead, it suggests using wallet software that controls transactions sent to smart contracts.
However, Coinbase can receive funds from smart contracts, and Ethereum (ETH) or Ethereum Classic (ETC) obtained from a smart contract will be credited generally to a user’s Coinbase account.
Why are intelligent contracts important to NFT?
Intelligent contracts are vital to NFTs in 2023 because they can standardize the creation and handling of NFTs across platforms, enforce ownership, authenticate data, and combat counterfeiting. They also facilitate efficient and secure business transactions by executing agreed-upon outcomes, which is crucial in trustless systems like the blockchain.
Moreover, smart contracts are becoming increasingly important in the growing metaverse, facilitating interactions and transactions within this digital universe. The importance of smart contracts is expected to rise as NFT adoption continues and the metaverse expands.
Do you need to make a smart contract with OpenSea?
Yes, if you want to create and list your own NFTs on OpenSea, you will need to write and deploy a smart contract that defines the behavior and properties of your NFTs. OpenSea provides APIs and documentation to help you integrate your smart contract with their marketplace.
How do I write a smart contract for NFT?
Writing a smart contract for a Nonfungible Token (NFT) in 2023 should be similar to how it was done earlier unless there have been significant changes in Ethereum or Solidity, the language most commonly used to write Ethereum smart contracts. As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, here is a simplified example of an NFT smart contract using the ERC721 standard:
pragma solidity ^0.5.0;import “@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/ERC721.sol”;
contract MyNFT is ERC721 {
uint public tokenId;constructor() ERC721(“MyNFT”, “MNFT”) public {}
function mintNFT(address recipient, string memory tokenURI) public returns (uint) {
tokenId++;_mint(recipient, tokenId);
_setTokenURI(tokenId, tokenURI);return tokenId;
}
}
This contract uses the OpenZeppelin library, which implements standards like ERC721. OpenZeppelin is widely used and audited for security, making it a safe choice for building smart contracts.
The MyNFT the contract has a public function allowing anyone to mint a new NFT. The new NFT is assigned, which is incremented each time an NFT is minted, ensuring that each NFT has a unique ID. The _mint and _setTokenURI functions are inherited from the ERC721 contract and used to create the NFT and set its metadata.
Please be aware that this is a basic example, and real-world NFT contracts can be much more complex. They often include additional features like royalty payments, access controls, and other business logic.
Also, be aware that innovative contract development requires careful security considerations. Small mistakes can lead to significant financial losses. Therefore, if you are developing a smart contract for heavy use, it’s recommended to have your agreement audited by a professional security firm.
Given that it’s 2023, I can check for any significant changes in how NFT intelligent contracts are written. Would you like me to do that?
Do you need to make a smart contract with OpenSea?
Yes, if you want to create and list your own NFTs on OpenSea, you will need to write and deploy a smart contract that defines the behavior and properties of your NFTs. OpenSea provides APIs and documentation to help you integrate your smart contract with their marketplace.
