14 May 2019

Blockchain: understanding smart contracts

An exciting new intersection between the law and technology, smart contracts have many promising applications. Here, we explain what they are and how can they be used in the real estate sector.

  

“Smart contracts”, a term originally coined over 20 years ago, is nowadays used to describe computer codes and algorithms that allow contracts to self-perform. The term is highly related with blockchain, as the main trend is that these work on a blockchain-based platform.

In a nutshell, a smart contract will “self-enforce” / “self-perform” a predetermined outcome from a contractual provision once its objective criteria is met without the need of an intermediary.

Real estate applications

Challenges ahead

Real estate applications

Challenges ahead