Comprehensive Insights into Smart Contracts: Architecture, Sectoral Applications, Security Analysis, and Legal Frameworks
Main Article Content
Abstract
Most conventional contract systems have issues with middlemen, drawn-out implementation procedures, fraud risk, and human error. Considering this, the project uses smart contract technology to provide a decentralized, automated, and safe solution in an effort to address such inefficiencies and the trust issues they raise. Smart contracts enable self-execution of contracts whose conditions are expressed explicitly in lines of code by presenting solutions using blockchain technology. The concept behind a smart contract is that each party may carry out their portion of the duties without depending on a third party and the contract will automatically execute in the meantime. This automation significantly reduces transaction costs while simultaneously improving security and transparency. With the use of this underlying technology, smart contracts may be used to directly code parties' compliance with their duties under the agreement and the blockchain will keep an immutable record of every transaction. For smooth and dependable transactions, smart contracts offer a dependable and effective substitute for conventional contract methods. Furthermore, integrating smart contracts with cutting-edge technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence could improve decision-making and accelerate operations in a variety of sectors. Their application extends beyond financial transactions to areas such as supply chain management, energy trading, and healthcare, showcasing their versatility. Despite these advantages, issues like energy consumption, scalability, and regulatory compliance still need creative solutions. Ongoing research and development aim to address these issues, fostering the evolution of smarter, more sustainable contract systems. By leveraging these advancements, smart contracts keep opening the door for a revolution in the digital economy that will increase productivity and confidence.
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JIWE are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Readers are allowed to
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following conditions:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use;
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes;
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
References
E. Negara, A. Hidayanto, R. Andryani, and R. Syaputra, “Survey of Smart Contract Framework and Its Application,” Information, vol. 12, no. 7, p. 257, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.3390/info12070257.
V. Dwivedi, A. Norta, A. Wulf, B. Leiding, S. Saxena, and C. Udokwu, “A Formal Specification Smart-Contract Language for Legally Binding Decentralized Autonomous Organizations,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 76069–76082, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3081926.
V. Gatteschi, F. Lamberti, C. Demartini, C. Pranteda, and V. Santamaría, “Blockchain and Smart Contracts for Insurance: Is the Technology Mature Enough?” Future Internet, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 20, Feb. 2018, doi: 10.3390/fi10020020.
Z. Ji, Z. Guo, H. Li, and Q. Wang, “Automated Scheduling Approach under Smart Contract for Remote Wind Farms with Power- to-Gas Systems in Multiple Energy Markets,” Energies, vol. 14, no. 20, p. 6781, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.3390/en14206781.
E. E. Ameyaw, D. J. Edwards, B. Kumar, N. Thurairajah, D.-G. Owusu-Manu, and G. D. Oppong, “Critical Factors Influencing Adoption of Blockchain-Enabled Smart Contracts in Construction Projects,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 149, no. 3, p. 04023003, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-12081.
J. Li, D. Greenwood, and M. Kassem, “Blockchain in the built environment and construction industry: A systematic review, conceptual models and practical use cases,” Automation in Construction, vol. 102, pp. 288–307, Jun. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2019.02.005.
U. Damisa, N. I. Nwulu, and P. Siano, “Towards Blockchain-Based Energy Trading: A Smart Contract Implementation of Energy Double Auction and Spinning Reserve Trading,” Energies, vol. 15, no. 11, p. 4084, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.3390/en15114084.
I. Reshi, M. Khan, S. Shafi, S. Sholla, A. Assad, and H. Shafi, “AI-Powered Smart Contracts: The Dawn of Web 4. O.” Mar. 06, 2023. doi: 10.36227/techrxiv.22189438.
N. Ivanov, C. Li, Q. Yan, Z. Sun, Z. Cao, and X. Luo, “Security Defense For Smart Contracts: A Comprehensive Survey,” arXiv (Cornell University), Jan. 2023, doi: 10.48550/arxiv.2302.07347.
P. Hegedus, “Towards analyzing the complexity landscape of solidity based Ethereum smart contracts,” International Workshop on Emerging Trends in Software Engineering for Blockchain, Gothenburg Sweden: ACM, May 2018, pp. 35–39. doi: 10.1145/3194113.3194119.
P. Du, Z. Liu, B. Huang, G. Jing, L. Feng, and C. Yang, “Blockchain Based Peer-To-Peer Energy Trading Between Wind Power Producer and Prosumers in Short-Term Market,” Frontiers in Energy Research, vol. 10, p. 923292, Jul. 2022, doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2022.923292.
S. Kalra, S. Goel, M. Dhawan, and S. Sharma, “ZEUS: Analyzing Safety of Smart Contracts,” Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, San Diego, CA: Internet Society, 2018. doi: 10.14722/ndss.2018.23082.
Z. Fauziah, H. Latifah, X. Omar, A. Khoirunisa, and S. Millah, “Application of Blockchain Technology in Smart Contracts: A Systematic Literature Review,” Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 160–166, Aug. 2020, doi: 10.34306/att.v2i2.97.
Z. Zheng et al., “An overview on smart contracts: Challenges, advances and platforms,” Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 105, pp. 475–491, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.future.2019.12.019.
A. A. Papantoniou, “Smart Contracts in the New Era of Contract Law,” Digital Law Journal, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 8–24, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.38044/2686-9136-2020-1-4-8-24.
L. Brent et al., “Vandal: A Scalable Security Analysis Framework for Smart Contracts.” arXiv (Cornell University), 2018. doi: 10.48550/ARXIV.1809.03981.
P. Vionis and T. Kotsilieris, “The Potential of Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts in the Energy Sector: A Review,” Applied Sciences, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 253, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.3390/app14010253.
X. Li, P. Jiang, T. Chen, X. Luo, and Q. Wen, “A survey on the security of blockchain systems,” Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 107, pp. 841–853, Jun. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.future.2017.08.020.
“An Introduction to Smart Contracts and Their Potential and Inherent Limitations.” Accessed: Jun. 09, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/05/26/an-introduction-to-smart-contracts-and-their-potential-and-inherent-limitations/
P. Vionis and T. Kotsilieris, “The Potential of Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts in the Energy Sector: A Review,” Applied Sciences, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 253, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.3390/app14010253.
S. Rouhani and R. Deters, “Security, Performance, and Applications of Smart Contracts: A Systematic Survey,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 50759–50779, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2911031.
A. Rijanto, “Blockchain Technology Adoption in Supply Chain Finance,” Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 3078–3098, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.3390/jtaer16070168.
Z. Zheng et al., “An overview on smart contracts: Challenges, advances and platforms,” Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 105, pp. 475–491, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.future.2019.12.019.
B. Bodo, D. Gervais, and J. P. Quintais, “Blockchain and smart contracts: the missing link in copyright licensing?,” International Journal of Law and Information Technology, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 311–336, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1093/ijlit/eay014.
“View of Smart Contracts Security Application and Challenges: A Review.” Accessed: Jun. 09, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://ojs.wiserpub.com/index.php/CCDS/article/view/3271/1593
“(PDF) Blockchain-based Smart Contracts - Applications and Challenges.” Accessed: Jun. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328230865_Blockchain-based_Smart_Contracts_-_Applications_and_Challenges
Y. Huang, Y. Bian, R. Li, J. L. Zhao, and P. Shi, “Smart Contract Security: A Software Lifecycle Perspective,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 150184–150202, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2946988.
N. Kannengieser, S. Lins, C. Sander, K. Winter, H. Frey, and A. Sunyaev, “Challenges and Common Solutions in Smart Contract Development,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 48, no. 11, pp. 4291–4318, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TSE.2021.3116808.
D. Han, C. Zhang, J. Ping, and Z. Yan, “Smart contract architecture for decentralized energy trading and management based on blockchains,” Energy, vol. 199, p. 117417, May 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117417.
“What Are Smart Contracts on the Blockchain and How Do They Work?” Accessed: Jun. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/smart-contracts.asp
“Layer 2 Tokens on Ethereum: A comparison | Trust.” Accessed: Jun. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://trustwallet.com/blog/layer2-tokens-on-ethereum-a-comparison
“What is a Protocol Layer? | Koinly.” Accessed: Jun. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://koinly.io/crypto-glossary/protocol- layer/
“What is the Application Layer? - Definition from Techopedia.” Accessed: Jun. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/6006/application-layer
P.O. Shoetan, A.T. Oyewole, C.C. Okoye, and O.C. Ofodile, “Retrieving The Role of Big Data Analytics in Financial Fraud Detection,” Finance & Accounting Research Journal, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 384–394, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.51594/farj.v6i3.899
V. Kohli, S. Chakravarty, V. Chamola, K. S. Sangwan, and S. Zeadally, “An Analysis of Energy Consumption and Carbon Footprints of Cryptocurrencies and Possible Solutions.” arXiv (Cornell University), 2022. doi: 10.48550/ARXIV.2203.03717.
C. Stoll, L. Klaaßen, and U. Gallersdorfer, “The Carbon Footprint of Bitcoin,” Joule, vol. 3, no. 7, pp. 1647–1661, Jul. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2019.05.012.
“Spotlight on sustainability initiatives in key sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean,” OECD Business and Finance Policy Papers 45, May 2024. doi: 10.1787/5178fb0d-en.
Q. Wang, R. Y. K. Lau, Y.-W. Si, H. Xie, and X. Tao, “Blockchain-Enhanced Smart Contract for Cost-Effective Insurance Claims Processing:,” Journal of Global Information Management, vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 1–21, Sep. 2023, doi: 10.4018/JGIM.329927.
F. Santos, R. Pereira, and J. B. Vasconcelos, “Toward robotic process automation implementation: an end-to-end perspective,” Business Process Management Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 405–420, Sep. 2019, doi: 10.1108/BPMJ-12-2018-0380.
S. Imoto, Y. Sudo, H. Kakugawa, and T. Masuzawa, “Atomic Cross-Chain Swaps with Improved Space and Local Time Complexity,” in Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems, vol. 11914, M. Ghaffari, M. Nesterenko, S. Tixeuil, S. Tucci, and Y. Yamauchi, Eds., in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 11914. 2019, pp. 194–208. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-34992-9_16.