What is a smart contract?

A smart contract in the blockchain world is like a computer instruction that helps automate the management of users' funds and other assets. Smart contracts are powered by blockchain technology and perform various tasks such as transferring digital assets and fulfilling agreements, realising this through transparent, accurate and secure processes. They provide a high level of security and are also legally enforceable. These contracts are indispensable for projects that aim to be decentralised, such as DeFi and DApps, but also find applications in insurance, banking, government organisations and other areas. Smart contracts help automate processes and make them clearer and more accurate, which is important for blockchain technology.

One of WhiteBIT's most advanced technologies is our proprietary blockchain built on Proof-of-Authority (PoA) principles, which you can read more about in our article at the link. Whitechain can also be used to create a smart contract, which will be discussed in this article.

How to deploy a smart contract?

Launching, or more commonly known as deploying, a smart contract is the process of rolling out a smart contract on a blockchain, which involves several steps:

• Writing the smart contract code: First, the smart contract code must be written in specialized programming languages, such as Solidity for Ethereum.
• Compiling the code: The smart contract code is converted into bytecode that can be executed on a blockchain virtual machine, such as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for Ethereum. The byte code is a set of instructions that the blockchain virtual machine understands.
• Smart Contract Deployment: The smart contract byte code is loaded into the blockchain after the transaction is signed. This uses “gas”, which is a unit of measurement that defines the amount of work that can be done on the blockchain. Each operation such as sending a transaction or executing a smart contract requires a certain amount of “gas”, which depends on the complexity of the smart contract and network congestion, so the user has to pay for this execution.
• Verification and Interaction: Once a smart contract is deployed on the blockchain, it can be verified and interacted with using specialized tools and libraries.

Deployment of a smart contract is necessary to make it available for use on the blockchain. This allows network participants to interact with the contract, perform its functions, and utilise the capabilities provided, such as transferring digital assets, automating transactions, and more.

Preparing for smart contract deployment

Connecting Whitechain Testnet to MetaMask

If you plan to use a real blockchain network to deploy a smart contract, then you will need a cryptocurrency wallet to manage your cryptocurrency funds. To connect a test network to your MetaMask wallet, follow the simple instructions in our linked article. 

However, if you only plan to work with a local network for testing, you don't need a cryptocurrency wallet.

Getting test WBT coins

The process of depositing a smart contract involves a transaction that, by its nature, requires payment of a fee to the network where the deployment takes place. In this case, the Whitechain Testnet network is considered. Detailed instructions on how to obtain test WBT coins is available in our article at the link.

Setting up the environment

A handy tool for creating your own smart contract can be Remix. It is an integrated web development environment (IDE) specifically designed for developing and testing smart contracts, which has a simple interface for creating smart contracts and available tools for testing them.

You can read more about this environment in the repository at this link.

Create, Deploy, and Verify a Smart Contract

To create, deploy, and verify a smart contract in Remix, follow these steps: 

Create a smart contract

1. Open Remix in a browser and select a programming language for the smart contract (e.g. Solidity);
2. Write your smart contract code in the editor;
3. Check the code for errors using Remix's inbuilt tools.

Deploy the smart contract

1. Click the “Deploy & Run Transactions” tab in Remix;
2. Select the smart contract you want to deploy;
3. Select the network on which you want to deploy the contract (for example, LAN or Testnet);
4. Click the “Deploy” button to start the smart contract deployment process.

Check your deployment

1. After successfully deploying a smart contract into Remix, you will see a completion notification;
2. Check the address of your smart contract, which will be displayed in the Remix interface;
3. Verify that the contract has been successfully deployed by clicking on the “Deployed Contracts” tab and checking the list of deployed contracts.

Thus, with Remix and other similar tools, you can easily create, deploy and verify smart contracts without the need to install additional software on your computer.

Once you have deployed a smart contract, you can verify it in Whitechain Explorer. To do this, follow the link to the contract verification page, download your smart contract files, and paste its address into the “Contract address” field.

Support

In case of any questions related to the functionality of our exchange, you can:

• Leave a request on our website;
• Write to the support email: support@whitebit-tr.com;
• Write to the chat using the button in the lower right corner of the screen (in the WhiteBIT TR app, go to “Account” — “Support” in the upper left corner).