Tldr: What REALLY are Smart Contracts?

I think this post, while well-intentioned, massively undersells what smart contracts are. Smart contracts aren't just a fancy feature. Smart contracts are the completion of the Bitcoin idea. Without smart contracts, Bitcoin is incomplete, because it is a decentralized coin, surrounded by a centralized economy. It misses its own point.

• Wanna buy Bitcoin options, futures, bonds, longs, or any other financial instrument? You need a centralized exchange.

• Wanna bet some Bitcoin in a money match of Poker against some anon on the deep web? You need a centralized cassino.

• Wanna leave your Bitcoin for your family in the case you die? You need a centralized custodian.

• Wanna mint, sell and buy skins or NFTs using Bitcoin? You need a centralized game or app.

Now, replace Bitcoin by "Ether" and all the centralized companies above can be replaced by a suitable smart contract that performs the same operation without a third party. That's what smart contracts are. The whole point of creating a decentralized currency is to remove centralization, but that point is lost if everything you do with that currency requires a centralized company. If this isn't enough for you to get what I'm implying, I don't know what else is.

Have a great day!