Systems and methods for implementing a programming model for smart contracts within a decentralized computer network

1 . A computer-implemented method for implementing smart contracts on a decentralized network, the decentralized network configured to enable peer-to-peer connection amongst a plurality of nodes on the decentralized network, the computer-implemented method comprising:

executing, in a virtual machine execution environment of a first node of the plurality of nodes, a client-side functionality that (1) includes read access to storage of the first node and (2) excludes write access to the storage of the first node, based on client-side contract logic within a smart contract module of the first node;

in response to executing the client-side functionality, at the first node of the plurality of nodes:

retrieving a state of the first node from the storage of the first node, and

constructing an electronic message including commands that cause, when executed, execution of a server-side functionality of a second node to read from and write to a storage of a the second node of the plurality of nodes;

sending, to the second node of the plurality of nodes on the decentralized network, the electronic message to cause execution of the server-side functionality of the second node to modify a state of the second node;

receiving an electronic message (1) from a third node of the plurality of nodes and (2) including commands that cause, when executed, execution of a server-side functionality of the first node to read from and write to the storage of the first node, based on server-side logic within the smart contract module of the first node; and

in response to receiving the electronic message from the third node, executing, in the virtual machine execution environment of the first node, the server-side functionality of the first node to modify the state of the first node.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

execution of the server-side functionality of the first node further executes a heartbeat function at the first node, to cause the first node to return the state of the first node.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the client-side functionality is implemented by client-side logic of a first smart contract; and

the server-side functionality of the second node is implemented by server-side logic of a second smart contract that is different from the first smart contract.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the virtual machine execution environment of the first node includes a stateless virtual machine execution environment; and

the stateless virtual machine execution environment is isolated from any client-side execution function call not associated with the client-side functionality.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the electronic message once sent to the second node is validated and executed independently of the execution of the client-side functionality.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the retrieving the state of the first node excludes executing server-side functionality on any node on the decentralized network.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

cryptographically signing the electronic message before sending the electronic message to the second node.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to sending the electronic message to the second node, executing the server-side functionality of the first node in the virtual machine execution environment of the first node to modify the state of the first node.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the computer-implemented method utilizes Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS).

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

broadcasting the electronic message to cause execution of the electronic message in an associated virtual machine of each node of the plurality of nodes in the decentralized network.

11 . A non-transitory, processor-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

execute a client-side functionality of a smart contract module in a stateless virtual machine execution environment and in response to a request placed via an application programming interface (API), to perform a read-only query of a state stored in a persistent storage volume or a volatile system memory;

in response to executing the client-side functionality, construct an electronic message that represents a transaction, based on the state determined from executing the client-side functionality, the electronic message further encoding commands that, when executed, cause execution of server-side contract functionality on at least one first node of a decentralized network to read from and write to a storage of at least one additional smart contract module;

broadcast, on the decentralized network, the electronic message that includes an identifier associated with a server-side functionality to cause execution of the server-side functionality in at least one stateless virtual machine execution environment of the at least one first node of the decentralized network to modify a state of the at least one first node based on the transaction and a state of the storage of the at least one additional smart contract module;

receive an electronic message (1) from a second node of the decentralized network and (2) including commands that cause, when executed, execution of a server-side functionality of the smart contract module to read from and write to the persistent storage volume or the volatile system memory, based on server-side logic within the smart contract module; and

in response to receiving the electronic message from the second node of the decentralized network, execute, in the stateless virtual machine execution environment, the server-side functionality of the smart contract module to modify the state stored in the persistent storage volume or the volatile system memory.

12 . The non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the transaction once broadcasted is validated and executed independently of the execution of the client-side functionality.

13 . The non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:

the electronic message is cryptographically signed.

14 . The non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:

the stateless virtual machine execution environment is isolated from any client-side execution function call not associated with the client-side functionality.

15 . The non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:

the smart contract module is associated with a first smart contract; and

the at least one additional smart contract module is associated with at least one second smart contract that is different from the first smart contract.

16 . A method, comprising:

executing, via a processor, a client-side functionality of a smart contract module in a stateless virtual machine execution environment and in response to a request placed via an application programming interface (API), to perform a read-only query of a state stored in a persistent storage volume or volatile system memory;

in response to executing the client-side functionality, constructing, via the processor, an electronic message that represents a transaction, based on the state determined from executing the client-side functionality, the electronic message further encoding commands that, when executed, cause execution of server-side contract functionality on at least one first node of a decentralized network to read from and write to a storage of at least one additional smart contract module;

broadcasting, via the processor and on the decentralized network, the electronic message that include an identifier associated with a server-side functionality to cause execution of the server-side functionality in at least one stateless virtual machine execution environment of the at least one first node of the decentralized network to modify a state of the at least one first node based on the transaction and a state of the storage of the at least one additional smart contract module;

receiving, at the processor, an electronic message (1) from a second node of the decentralized network and (2) including commands that cause, when executed, execution of a server-side functionality of the smart contract module to read from and write to the persistent storage volume or the volatile system memory, based on server-side logic within the smart contract module; and

in response to receiving the electronic message from the second node of the decentralized network, executing, via the processor and in the stateless virtual machine execution environment, the server-side functionality of the smart contract module to modify the state stored in the persistent storage volume or the volatile system memory.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the transaction once broadcasted is validated and executed independently of the execution of the client-side functionality.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the electronic message is cryptographically signed.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the stateless virtual machine execution environment is isolated from any client-side execution function call not associated with the client-side functionality.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the smart contract module is associated with a first smart contract; and

the at least one additional smart contract module is associated with at least one second smart contract that is different from the first smart contract.