"If we can't make contracts, then I can't send you 5,000 bushels of wheat with 60 days payable on delivery. But if we can promiscuously make contracts, then you can hire me before I have a chance to interview at the other places that are interested in hiring me." Nobel laureate Alvin Roth on the double edge of binding commitment, and @skominers on why smart contracts let you embrace it on purpose: "You can write a smart contract to commit to an outcome upfront before you participate in a marketplace. And sometimes the incentives are such that people would, in equilibrium, choose to do so — even if it means they're giving up rights to things they might later want from the marketplace protocol."(a16z crypto)