The recent decision by the Fifth Court regarding Tornado Cash has sparked widespread optimism among Ethereum enthusiasts and privacy advocates in cryptocurrencies, leading to a notable appreciation in privacy-focused tokens and decentralized protocols operating on this blockchain.
Last Wednesday, the court established that immutable smart contracts do not qualify as property and, therefore, are not subject to sanctions under current laws, which was received as a major victory for the privacy community in cryptocurrencies.
According to 10X Research, the judicial decision “does not endorse money laundering practices but sets a favorable precedent for developers to create and launch smart contract protocols without the fear of facing sanctions, as long as they do not charge fees for these transactions.”
This new scenario provides greater clarity for developers on what they can build on Ethereum without attracting regulatory attention, further solidifying Ethereum’s status as the home of most decentralized applications. Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and renowned cryptocurrency entrepreneur, celebrated: “Privacy wins. Smart contracts win. Tornado Cash wins. And OFAC loses.”
Following the decision, the cryptocurrency market has seen significant positive movements: the native token of Tornado Cash, TORN, has observed an impressive 380% increase in the last 7 days. Among the market highlights, Uniswap (UNI) had a 10% increase on the day, trading at $12.84, reaching a new eight-month high. Aave (AAVE) and Ethena (ENA) also showed strong performance, with increases of 8% and 20% respectively, marking the highest levels in 2.5 years and five months.