Web3 contracts, also known as smart contracts, are crucial in today’s blockchain ecosystem. They enable users to interact online via the blockchain and the many dapps in the Web3 realm. Further, they set the conditions for decentralized transactions without needing a centralized third-party authority for verification. In other words, Web3 contracts govern the rules of any Web3 agreement. Given the importance of Web3 contracts, any aspiring blockchain developer or current Web3 user should understand these vital elements of the crypto realm in greater depth.
Use cases for Solidity smart contracts, or Web3 contracts, include decentralized financial services (particularly in DeFi protocols), decentralized digital identity, and building DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations). Furthermore, use cases include legal, tokenization, and decentralized gaming applications.
Gaming, in particular, has become pretty exciting because of the emergence of the Web3 metaverse. Through GameFi and play-to-earn (P2E) concepts, Web3 contracts tie in token or crypto incentives with gameplay. As a result, Web3 contracts are ushering in a new era of combined entertainment and earning potential.
Writing Web3 Contracts
Do you have enough skill, or are you utilizing the proper Web3 tech stack to write smart contracts? To get started in blockchain development, you mainly need two programming languages: JavaScript and Solidity. Apart from these, you’ll need layers of programmable blockchains, nodes and node providers, development platforms, and APIs.
Today, people mostly use Solidity to write the majority of smart contracts for blockchains such as Ethereum. Moreover, Ethereum remains the most popular blockchain for Web3 contracts. Beginners who want to learn more about Ethereum may refer to the Moralis article on Ethereum development.
However, things are not as complicated as they seem. Even if you don’t know how to write Web3 contracts in Solidity, you can still build dapps on Ethereum by relying on free tools such as OpenZeppelin to find a variety of smart contract templates and deploy them using Remix.
The space is innovating fast, and new ways to write and create Web3 contracts are emerging alongside new blockchains. Fortunately, Moralis allows greater flexibility by being cross-chain compatible from the start. As such, you can build cross-chain dapps that are instantly compatible with multiple Web3 blockchains using Moralis.
Powerful Web3 development platforms like Moralis can simplify your Web3 contract writing process. With Moralis, you can focus on JavaScript for blockchain development and use shortcuts to achieve the smart contract-driven features you want in your dapp. Moralis, the ultimate Web3 development platform, also provides you with tutorials and already written contracts for various use cases. Check the Moralis Web3 YouTube channel, Moralis’ blog, and Moralis’ documentation to access these resources.
Moralis’ Web3 SDK
There’s no coincidence that Moralis is sometimes referred to as a “Firebase for crypto”. Its Web3 SDK offers you a full suite of tools to simplify your Web3 contracts programming and streamline blockchain indexing and integration. Via its platform, you can also sync smart contracts and let it handle your backend infrastructure. By using its platform, Moralis cuts your Web3 developments by an average of 87%! As a result, it lets you launch dapps in record time. To learn more about how Moralis improves these processes, read about how to index the blockchain and how to sync and index smart contract events on the Moralis blog.
If you are completely new to Web3 contracts, you can use this article to read up further on smart contracts’ origin and applications. In addition, this guide will expand your knowledge of their major use cases, especially in the context of emerging opportunities in the metaverse.
What are Web3 Contracts?
Web3 contracts are also called smart contracts. But, what are smart contracts? Smart contracts are agreements between two or more parties over the internet. Moreover, Web3 contracts are the backbone of the Web3 industry, and today’s blockchain-driven internet operates on Web3 contracts.
Web3 contracts are self-executing agreements. Instead of needing third parties or professionals to implement such agreements, they employ code. These digital contracts enable many functions, including buying, selling, and trading assets. Furthermore, with Web3 contracts, you can exchange various currencies, tokens, or types of property. Moreover, such contracts allow these transactions to be transparent on the blockchain. Being purely digital and programmable, the terms of a smart contract agreement are part of the code itself. Moreover, programmability means that these contracts can be unique and customized with their incentive systems, rules, and penalties.
Let’s now briefly explore the origin of Web3 contracts in the next section.
Origin of Web3 Contracts
The term “smart contract” was first coined over twenty years ago by Nick Szabo, a polymath and cryptography pioneer. He created “bitGold”, which many believe is among the technologies that led to Bitcoin. Being a pioneer in the Web3 realm and coining the term “smart contract”, rumors are stating that Szabo is Satoshi Nakamoto, the developer of Bitcoin.
Smart Contract Variables
To understand how to write a Web3 contract, you need to understand the basic variables. Moreover, you need to define the following variables to create the terms of the smart contract agreement:
- Parties involved in the transaction
- Type of asset exchanged
- Conditions of the transaction
The third variable means that you need to fulfill certain terms before the Web3 transaction is executed. Hence, this provision eliminates a middleman or authority’s need to get the deal done. Furthermore, this means that even anonymous or pseudonymous transactions are possible.
The requirements for execution are clear-cut. For example, a smart contract for a fund transfer can only run when there is a digital signature, confirmation, deposited amount, etc.
Advantages of Web3 Contracts
What kind of advantages do Web3 contracts provide for users? With its decentralization aspects, these contracts bring new ways to transact online without the need for a middleman (trustlessness). Also, they are autonomous, accurate, interruption-free, and cost-effective.
However, Web3 contracts have wider implications for developers, users, entrepreneurs, and existing businesses. Smart contracts enable user authentication without a traditional centralized sign-up process that a single entity or company controls. You can enable decentralized authentication via a Web3 wallet such as MetaMask. This setup lets anyone sign up with multiple dapps using a single-user wallet that no one except the owner controls. Moreover, this implies that an entire decentralized economy can be built out of smart contracts and their capabilities.
Web3 contracts can also be used to create DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations). They can be used to organize a large number of users without the need for a corporate entity. Using the Moralis boilerplate, you can create a DAO in ten minutes. Want to learn more about how to create a DAO smart contract? Make sure to check out the DAO guide at Moralis’ blog!
If you want to build next-gen websites, dapps, or online businesses, Web3 contracts are crucial. You can apply them to accomplish almost anything, or you can integrate them with your existing business model to access new users or add new features. What’s more, you can make any website interact with smart contracts.
Web3 Contracts – A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
Web3 contracts will support an entirely new economy. Further, such an economy won’t resemble the current one we have now, which is still primarily based on Web2 concepts and more centralized authorities. Smart contracts will usher in more distributed opportunities to users all over the world. Moreover, they will launch the careers of many blockchain developers and creators in a new decentralized ecosystem.
To learn more about the trillion-dollar opportunity awaiting developers who are proficient in Web3 contracts, check out this video:
Interact with Web3 Contracts Through Your Website
There’s a way to simplify interactions between Web3 contracts and your website. You don’t need to build your blockchain infrastructure from scratch. If you have an existing or already built website, you can connect it to blockchains and blockchain-related features using Moralis APIs.
Moralis APIs
Web3 contracts enable endless possibilities. What’s more, you can quickly plug into Web3 and the metaverse using Moralis’ easy-to-use APIs. Here are some examples of Moralis’ most in-demand APIs:
1. Moralis’ NFT API
Moralis’ NFT API is the ultimate non-fungible token API. If you want to get involved in the exploding NFT space or create a dapp that connects to the metaverse, the NFT API is the simplest way to get started.
Whether you want to build an NFT marketplace or create an NFT dapp, the Moralis NFT API is your reliable Web3 gateway. This API lets you retrieve the following information:
- NFT prices for your marketplace
- NFT metadata
- Contract types of NFTs
- Time of minting or NFT creation
- NFT ownership data
- Transfer data
- Details about an NFT collection
- And much more
Furthermore, the Moralis NFT API is an easy-to-manage indexed API that functions using only single lines of code. Moreover, it’s the most seamless way to get on-chain data on an NFT that you can use for multiple purposes, including widely popular use cases such as creating NFT games.
2. Moralis’ Price API
Do you want to build a marketplace or a decentralized exchange (DEX)? Moralis’ Price API is Web3’s greatest plug-and-play solution to get on-chain token prices in real-time. This API can obtain the price of any blockchain-based token or asset. Furthermore, it works with assets trading on popular DEXs such as Uniswap, PancakeSwap, or QuickSwap by looking into DEXs’ smart contracts.
Moralis’ Price API is fully compatible with Moralis Speedy Nodes. Moralis Speedy Nodes lets you connect to Ethereum nodes, BSC nodes, Polygon nodes, Avalanche nodes, and Arbitrum nodes in a matter of seconds. As the node infrastructure is natively cross-chain, your dapp is instantly interoperable with the world’s top blockchains and tokens!
3. Moralis’ Solana API
Solana is becoming one of the most popular blockchains for NFT and metaverse projects. Thus, Moralis launched its Solana API to cater to the community’s growing demand.
But, what is Solana? Solana is among the fastest blockchains in the crypto space. It can execute up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS). Moreover, the Solana blockchain’s TPS may reach up to 700,000 with network growth. Moreover, Solana uses a hybrid combination of proof-of-stake (PoS) and proof-of-history (PoH) consensus mechanisms. As such, validation times are significantly reduced. Thus, smart contract execution and transaction times are also greatly reduced.
It competes with dominant blockchains such as Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain (BSC), and Cardano. Currently, hundreds of Web3 metaverse projects are already built on Solana. It is a growing favorite among developers. Moreover, it boasts popular NFT projects, including Solana Monkey Business, SolPunks, Bold Badgers, Degenerate Ape Academy, etc.
The Moralis Solana API is accessible via HTTP requests. However, it will be available through the Moralis SDK pretty soon. In the future, the Solana API will be integrated into Moralis’ Unity SDK. Hence, you will be able to connect Solana data to Unity games. Moreover, the integration works with major platforms such as Xbox and PlayStation.
Metaverse Web3 Contract
Web3 contracts will widen your opportunities as a blockchain developer. The APIs from Moralis imply new possibilities for developing games and dapps that connect to the metaverse. A metaverse Web3 contract allows players to own assets within a game. In addition, you can create metaverse Web3 contracts for non-fungible tokens using the ERC-721 or the ERC-1155 token standard.
By integrating Web3 contracts with the vast gaming market, we may have found a perfect fit between entertainment and incentives. Furthermore, the ability to add tokens as monetary instruments empowers users with multi-platform opportunities. For example, tokens earned in one Web3 metaverse game can be traded on a DeFi dapp. Moreover, NFTs in gaming create a new economy of unique digital objects that can be traded, bought, or sold in various markets. These would include markets within or outside a game.
To learn more about building Web3 contracts for the metaverse, you can watch this concise tutorial:
What are Web3 Contracts – Summary
Web3 contracts, or smart contracts, form the backbone of the extensive Web3 and metaverse economy. As such, they are fundamental to any blockchain developer’s skill set. Furthermore, they are essential in building dapps. Moreover, they provide the foundation for transacting without a middleman or trusted third party. Hence, they are nothing short of revolutionary.
Web3 contracts are also a powerful tool in the gaming metaverse. They bridge digital assets and gaming environments. Hence, they also create a new economy around virtual objects, tokens, and currencies.
To wield the power of Web3 contracts and make the most out of the advantages they confer, you need to use the most reliable and innovative Web3 development platform around. Moralis takes your blockchain development game to a whole new level with the Moralis SDK. The Moralis Metaverse SDK is the most powerful toolkit to bring together smart contracts and major game development platforms. When mastering Web3 contracts, you should turn to this powerful SDK to complete your dapp development. What’s more, it works with Unity, Xbox, iOS, and PlayStation.
Moralis allows you to utilize the power of smart contracts across multiple blockchains and platforms. It also lets you build seamlessly by supporting all your backend infrastructure. As such, you can focus on your frontend and bypass smart contracts’ heavy lifting.
To harness the full potential of Web3 contracts, sign up with Moralis. Discover how Moralis takes Web3 contracts to a whole new level with minimal effort on your part. As the ultimate Web3 development platform, it’s your gateway to powerful Web3 contracts and building dapps for the metaverse!
