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The Fifth Circuit has just opined that the smart contracts that comprise the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency tumbler are "not property because they are not capable of being owned", and thus cannot be sanctioned by OFAC.

@molly0xfff Two questions arise now that I've read the decision.

1. Why was the lawsuit filed within the Fifth Circuit?

2. To what extent does the court overstate the actual immutability of the smart contracts at issue?

@sereno
1. The original lawsuit was filed in the Western District of Texas (quite deliberately, I'm sure, by finding a supposedly harmed plaintiff who resided there). Thus the appeal went to the Fifth Circuit.

2. I wouldn't say they do, the technical details seem accurate to me (at least at first read).

@molly0xfff 1. That was certainly my assumption.

2. That's something, at least. I don't know enough about the tech, but I take it there's no way to e.g. destroy an immutable smart contract short of wiping out the blockchain it's minted on?

Molly White

@sereno at least in the way the court has defined "immutable" here. (a lot of crypto projects are, unsurprisingly, a lot looser with their definitions)