Ethereum is a platform powered by blockchain technology that is best known for its native cryptocurrency, called ether, or ETH. Smart contracts, which originated on the Ethereum platform, are a central component of how the platform operates. A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized blockchain network. The code controls the execution, and transactions are trackable and irreversible.