A glossary of concepts linked to the subject of smart contracts, which includes frequently used terms currently in the blockchain technology and that the cryptographer Nick Szabo wrote in 1995, was shared through the account of an user on Twitter.
The user, Armin van Bitcoin, known for being very active within the Bitcoin ecosystem, linked the file to his followers, calling attention to many of the terms that the expert included in his glossary, 14 years before the launch of Bitcoin, the first blockchain .
A glossary written by @NickSzabo4 with many familiar terms we use today. He defines smart contracts, confidential transactions, digital signatures and more. What’s mind blowing is that he wrote this glossary in 1995, 14 years before #bitcoin. 😲https://t.co/iBk0G1u3kb pic.twitter.com/YvPF0TiULy
— Armin van Bitcoin ⚡ (@ArminVanBitcoin) April 3, 2018
The file, originally published in 1995, is part of the writings that the informaticist uploaded on his page, whose URL was szabo.best.vwh.net, and which are now available on the site archive.is, where copies of any web page, even if they have disappeared from the network.
Nick Szabo, who has stood out for having worked on a Bitcoin prototype, formerly called Digicash, is known within the ecosystem as the father of smart contracts, a term he clearly defined in his 1995 glossary.
The computer specialist defined in this first instance the basic principles of his work, but for that moment there was no appropriate environment to create it in any way. It was not until 2009, with the advance of the Blockchain technology, that the bases of these concepts were set by Bitcoin and promoted by Ethereum later on.
The smart contract concept was developed by Szabo with the aim of reaching what he called the “highly evolved” practices of contract law and the design of electronic commerce protocols among strangers on the Internet.
It is considered that smart contracts will be an important part of the business of the future, which is why they increasingly call the attention of the banking industry, the financial sector and even government agencies, who are looking to take advantage of the possibilities of this technological development to be applied in their processes.
