Europejski Urząd Nadzoru Giełd i Papierów Wartościowych (European Securities and Markets Authority - ESMA), Praca badawcza ESMA nr 3, 2024 "Finanse zdecentralizowane: Kategoryzacja inteligentnych kontraktów"

ESMA50-43599798-9913

1 August 2024

ESMA Working Paper No. 3, 2024

Decentralised Finance:

A categorisation of smart contracts

Abstract:

First introduced on the Ethereum blockchain in 2015, smart contracts have become the backbone of Decentralised Finance (DeFi). Smart contracts are computer programmes stored on the blockchain and run when predetermined conditions are met. They are designed to facilitate financial transactions among blockchain users, without the need for trusted intermediaries that characterises traditional finance. Owing to their open-source nature, smart contracts have been claimed to be a major source of financial innovation. Nonetheless, they bring enormous technological complexity. Regulators and supervisors need to understand and monitor this complexity to systematically evaluate the risks to investors and financial stability stemming from DeFi. By discerning different categories of smart contracts, this article represents a first step in this direction. Building on...