A review of smart contract-based platforms, applications, and challenges

Blockchain is a modern technology that has gained enormous attention in scientific and practical applications. A smart contract is a digital transaction that runs, executes, and records the dynamic operation on the ledger automatically. A smart contract is the central aspect of a blockchain that facilitates blockchain as a platform outside the cryptocurrency spectrum. It applies to many applications such as education, voting, real estate, entertainment, IoT, supply chain, healthcare, and much more. While recent years have seen remarkable progress in developing blockchain technologies, emphasizing smart contracts, there is a lack of study of the smart contract concept. This paper extensively examines the core principles and guides recent research and advances in smart contracts. The study analyses are summarized in three key categories: (i) smart contract-based platforms and decentralized applications, (ii) risk problem identification, and (iii) potential solutions and future directions.