**2. The status of smart legal contracts**

### **2.1 The origin**

The concept of smart contracts was created by a computer scientist, Nick Szabo. In his publication in 1997 [13], he defined a smart contract as "A set of promises specified in digital form, including protocols which the parties perform on those promises." Szabo illustrated his definition by reference to a vending machine. A consumer inserts coins into the machine (satisfying the condition of the contract), and the vending machine automatically dispenses the chocolate bar (meeting the terms of the "contract"). The transaction is facilitated by software, which enables the transfer of
