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⌐◪-◪ → Privacy wins

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions against Tornado Cash were unlawful — a historic win for crypto and freedom worldwide. A few heavyweights like Balaji, Paul Grewal, and Hayden Adams have already weighed in, celebrating the win.

Looking forward, the ruling means Tornado Cash’s protocol and smart contracts will be removed from the sanctions list, allowing U.S. persons to (once again) use the privacy-preserving protocol. I guess this means OpenSea will finally unban me after 2 years.

More specifically, the court clarified that because Tornado Cash contracts are open-source and immutable, they cannot be “owned” by anyone (i.e. foreign national entities), which means they cannot be sanctioned.

Interestingly, Ethereum is the only blockchain mentioned in the ruling, even though Tornado Cash exists on six other chains, suggesting the court recognizes Ethereum as truly decentralized.

Bottom line: OFAC overstepped its congressional-defined authority, meaning crypto was on the right side of history (yet again).

The Golden Era of Crypto is truly upon us.

⌐◪-◪ → Mainstream social media apps are embracing crypto

Japanese messaging giant Line is planning to launch 30 decentralized apps (dapps) in early January, with plans for 150 more by the end of Q1. These apps, hosted on the KAIA blockchain, will focus on gaming, social, and chat applications, according to Sam Seo, chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation.

This is a big deal, as Line is deeply integrated into daily life in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, with 196M active users. For perspective on Line’s size, here are the top messaging apps by monthly active users

1. WhatsApp → 2B

2. WeChat → 1.23B

3. Facebook Messenger → 1B

4. Telegram → 900M

5. Snapchat → 800M

While Line isn’t the largest messaging app, its blockchain initiative reflects a growing trend of social media apps adopting crypto tech — led by Telegram.

Of course, this isn’t the first attempt. Instagram briefly supported NFTs before disabling the feature in March 2023. Reddit launched digital collectibles but removed them in July, and Twitter’s NFT profile pictures vanished in January.

While it’s disappointing to see these platforms backpedal, I reckon it’s only a matter of time before they re-introduce blockchain functionality, but only when we’ve closed the UX gap.

⌐◪-◪ → Regulatory clarity inbound

Trump’s team is reportedly working to shift crypto regulation to the CFTC, significantly reducing the SEC’s role in the space.

The CFTC is far less funded than the SEC, with a $400M budget, meaning fewer crackdowns and more self-regulation. Its new role would include oversight of crypto exchanges and spot markets handling assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

The key shift here is viewing crypto as “commodities,” not “securities,” which dramatically changes the regulatory and investment landscape. Even SEC Chair Gary Gensler has acknowledged Bitcoin as a commodity, while the CFTC has referred to Ethereum as a commodity in a complaint against Kucoin earlier this year.

None of this is confirmed — the information comes from a Fox Business report citing sources familiar with the matter. But if Bitcoin and Ethereum are commodities, the CFTC would naturally take the lead, with the SEC stepping back. That said, don’t expect this to apply to all cryptocurrencies, it really depends.

Either way, this is certainly bullish for crypto and aligns with Trump’s pro-crypto agenda and the Republican Party platform’s express goal to champion crypto innovation.

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