Smart contracts are like complicated vending machines. They can't do anything on their own, they can't just dispense lots of soda randomly, or grow legs and arms to fight a competing vending machine in the area. But what if they could? What if they could create transactions on their own?

You may have heard about how Bitcoin spends tons of energy per transaction due to Proof of Work. Many people rally against cryptocurrency in general because of these arguments, which are true (for PoW coins!)

However, one mistake many people make is to associate the entire cryptocurrency space with Bitcoin, believing that all cryptocurrencies are inherently energy-wasters and horrible for the environment.