Imagine a firm possessing a server cluster of 10,000 computers dedicated to preserving a database filled with its client's account details. This firm holds a storage facility housing all these computers in one location and exercises complete authority over every computer and the data stored in them.

In a smart contract, every stipulation, responsibility, and consequence is predetermined by the participants of the contract. The contract is "self-fulfilling", implying that once all set criteria are satisfied, it will automatically carry out its terms without the need for human oversight or mediation.

Previously, blockchain technology was primarily associated with payments, specifically with Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2008) and Ether. However, recent years have seen the emergence of various non-financial applications for blockchain technology (Treleaven et al., 2017), including areas like supply chain oversight and digital identity verification (Roeck et al., 2020).

Cryptocurrency is a secure, decentralized digital currency that enables value exchanges through the transfer of cryptotokens among network members. This public record serves as a tracking system, safeguarding participants' identities in a secure and pseudo-anonymous manner, documenting their specific cryptocurrency amounts, and chronicling all legitimate transactions made within the network.

A decentralized ledger operates as a database uniformly distributed and updated across various locations, organizations, or regions, open to numerous participants. It provides transactions with public "observers." Every member of each network node can view the shared entries across the network and possess an exact replica of them.