Large companies are already taking a close look at blockchain technology or adopting it. Although the technology did not appeal to all leading companies straight away. For example, IBM and Oracle immediately decided that they needed it, while Google and Facebook were initially reluctant to consider it. Google, Facebook and MailChimp introduced a ban on advertising ICOs, cryptocurrencies and blockchain software. They treated blockchain with caution, and misconceptions about how this technology works played no small part in that. However, Facebook and Google have now become more open on this issue. Blockchain technology is covered by many media outlets, and negative news most often overshadows the good that this technology offers. The decision to adopt blockchain can, of course, take a considerable amount of time, since a particular company has to weigh up its pros and cons, while the enormous power of smart contracts is attracting the attention of various startups and large corporations that are already eager to hire blockchain developers. Much has already been said about the misconceptions surrounding blockchain technology, yet business representatives should have a good understanding of how to use blockchain for their work and where to truly direct its potential. At the same time, of course, one should not listen only to the widespread negative opinions about blockchain.

Public blockchains are transparent and are not intended for criminals. Many media outlets are happy to highlight the negative aspects of blockchain — for example, they may write about criminal activity financed using cryptocurrencies. Even if criminals do pay for illegal goods and services using cryptocurrencies, it should be remembered that this is not the only way blockchain is used. However, it is hardly worth thinking that this will affect your particular business, since criminals usually use private blockchain networks in which the data is difficult to trace. In reality, most blockchains are public and transparent, and transactions in them are traceable. The whole point of blockchain is to ensure transparency and eliminate uncertainties by providing users with open-source software that gives confidence in the safety of crypto assets.

So how do smart contracts work? Some people are inclined to think that smart contracts are terrible "binding" agreements that can impose some kind of oppressive conditions on an entrepreneur. In reality, however, it is smart code written in the Solidity language, which is created in decentralized applications (dApps) and can run on top of a blockchain. The code allows certain dApp functions to be executed only when certain conditions are met, and this is the most important feature of smart contracts. Yes, and cryptocurrencies are merely a particular case of using blockchain. And gradually many are beginning to understand that blockchain technology is intended not only for finance, and it can work in almost all industries — healthcare, public services, real estate registration, supply chains and even video games. So blockchain has very wide applications! And as was said earlier, the main advantage of blockchain lies in the implementation of smart contracts using dApps. Programmers who specialize in developing smart contracts usually specify in the dApp the restrictions that the parties must adhere to. An important outcome of using smart contracts is that the participants do not need third parties – lawyers, intermediaries and lobbyists, who, as a rule, increase the price of the product / service and who only delay the execution time of contracts.

Here, for example, is a deal whose operations are based on smart contracts. So, for example, Jill rents an apartment from Jack by turning to a rental blockchain platform. The smart contract is written in such a way that it deducts a certain number of tokens from Jill's account after she has lived in the apartment for one month. Thus, the parameter that the programmer needs to account for in this case is one month of residence, after which the deduction of funds and the renewal of the smart contract should take place. What is interesting is that Jill and Jack saved a lot of time and money by not resorting to the services of lawyers or real estate agencies, that is, without involving third parties in the deal. At the same time, they need not worry about the security of the deal thanks to secure cryptographic methods of storing and processing the associated documents.

Today smart contracts are a new option for doing business (one that does not necessarily require running your own blockchain network). If your company needs a fast and simple way to execute contracts, then you can turn to dApp programmers who will develop smart contracts for your specific case. If previously you simply avoided the word "blockchain", then your company's new level of knowledge may mean that you are able and ready to harness the full power of this revolutionary technology. Thus, the common misconceptions about blockchain technology can easily fall away if you decide to look further into the functional capabilities of blockchain and want to become one of the still few companies that have adopted this technology today. It also means that you are able to see the future potential that lies behind smart-contract developments, as well as to stand up in defense of the good name of this relatively new technology.