SMART CONTRACTS: A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF TECHNOLOGY, APPLICATIONS, AND CHALLENGES
Volume 3, Issue 5, Pp 21-25, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/wjit3063
Author(s)
RongHua Li1*, Yun Li1, XinMan Luo2
Affiliation(s)
1School of Finance and Economics, Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou 571126, Hainan, China.
2School of Information Science and Technology, Qiongtai Normal University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, China.
Corresponding Author
RongHua Li
ABSTRACT
Smart contracts, as self-executing code on blockchain platforms, are transforming digital agreements across multiple industries. This paper reviews the technical foundations, applications, security challenges, and emerging directions of smart contract technology through an analysis of recent academic literature and real-world implementations. While smart contracts demonstrate significant potential in decentralized finance, supply chain management, and healthcare, they face critical challenges, including security vulnerabilities, ecosystem centralization risks, and legal uncertainties. Layer-2 scaling solutions, cross-chain interoperability protocols, and AI-assisted security auditing represent promising directions for addressing these challenges. Our analysis reveals that despite technological advances, fundamental issues in security verification and regulatory frameworks require continued research attention.
KEYWORDS
Smart contracts; Blockchain; Decentralized finance; Security vulnerabilities
CITE THIS PAPER
RongHua Li, Yun Li, XinMan Luo. Smart contracts: a comprehensive survey of technology, applications, and challenges. World Journal of Information Technology. 2025, 3(5): 21-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/wjit3063.
REFERENCES
[1] Levi SD, Lipton AB. An Introduction to Smart Contracts and Their Potential and Inherent Limitations. Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2018. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/05/26/an-introduction-to-smart-contracts-and-their-potential-and-inherent-limitations/.
[2] Ballaji N. Smart Contracts: Legal Implications in the Age of Automation. Beijing Law Review, 2024, 15(3): 1015.
[3] Cong LW, He Z. Blockchain disruption and smart contracts. The Review of Financial Studies, 2019, 32(5): 1754-1797.
[4] Alam MT, Halder R, Maiti A. Detection Made Easy: Potentials of Large Language Models for Solidity Vulnerabilities. arxiv preprint arxiv:2409.10574, 2024.
[5] Aladag H, Güven I. Risk factors affecting blockchain-based smart contract use in architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Megaron, 2023, 18(2).
[6] Zheng X. Research on blockchain smart contract technology based on resistance to quantum computing attacks. Plos one, 2024, 19(5): e0302325.
[7] Taherdoost H. Smart contracts in blockchain technology: A critical review. Information, 2023, 14(2): 117.
[8] Komodo Platform. AI Smart Contracts: What Are They and How Do They Work? 2025. https://komodoplatform.com/en/academy/ai-smart-contracts/.
[9] Chaliasos S, Charalambous MA, Zhou L, et al. Smart contract and defi security tools: Do they meet the needs of practitioners?. Proceedings of the 46th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering, 2024.
[10] Xu Y, Chong HY, Chi M. A review of smart contracts applications in various industries: a procurement perspective. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2021, 2021(1): 5530755.
[11] Jin M, Liu R, Monperrus M. On-Chain Analysis of Smart Contract Dependency Risks on Ethereum. arxiv preprint arxiv:2503.19548, 2025.
[12] Metana. Layer 2 Smart Contracts: Opportunities and Challenges. 2025. https://metana.io/blog/layer-2-smart-contracts-opportunities-and-challenges/.
[13] Zent. Introduction to Layer-2 smart contracts. 2024. https://zent.pro/blog/introduction-to-layer-2-smart-contracts.
[14] Cong LW, Hui X, Tucker C, et al. Scaling smart contracts via layer-2 technologies: Some empirical evidence. Management Science, 2023, 69(12): 7306-7316.
[15] Chainlink. What Are Cross-Chain Smart Contracts? 2023. https://chain.link/education-hub/cross-chain-smart-contracts.

Download as PDF