What are smart contracts in cryptocurrency?

Smart contracts in cryptocurrency are digital contracts developed to facilitate, verify, and enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. They are similar to traditional contracts, with the added benefit of being automated and self-executing, so that once certain predetermined conditions have been met, they automatically execute and transfer assets between two or more parties. Smart contracts can be used to automate the process of exchanging tokens, verifying identity, ownership transfers, enforcing terms of a contract and much more.