I think smart contracts are simply about storing "state" on the blockchain and having operations available in order modify and query the data. Centralization is a HUGE issue and is a complete non-starter. There will never be a project that grows to a meaningful size if the solution is a side chain that a single person can pull the plug on. I do think there needs to be away to address this need, and it goes beyond issuing tokens. For example, how cool would it be to have a thriving DeFi economy on Hive beyond the couple Dex's available. I recently came across the INDEX token on hive-engine. What a great idea! But the documentation is lacking, the volume isn't there, and it's a huge leap of faith because, again, centralized side chain. Looking forward to seeing how this moves forward!