Another set of additional questions, if you do not mind:
- What would be the main difference between B&C and a smart contract-based decentralized exchange if ever the latter is possible?
The latter wouldn't need the trusted signers. That would remove the need for a lot of B&C's infrastructure. There'd be no nominations or voting and you wouldn't even need shares or dividends. It could be done without a fee, apart from the coin transaction fees. There'd be no exchange operators, so there'd be no opportunity to make a business out of creating and running it.
The answer to cryptog1's question depends on how you define "smart contract". If you define a smart contract as something that occurs on a single blockchain without any external dependencies, then smart contracts could never be used to create a decentralized exchange that trades assets on foreign blockchains. If you define smart contracts in a way that permits consideration of events beyond the native blockchain, then the exchange agreements crafted on B&C constitute smart contracts. My understanding of the essence of smart contracts is that their terms, execution and outcome are automated using a blockchain. Using this definition orders placed and filled on B&C Exchange are certainly smart contracts.