ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's ruling, determining that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) exceeded its authority in sanctioning the Tornado Cash immutable smart contracts, marking a significant victory for the protocol and its users. The panel of three judges noted in their opinion that while the Treasury has the authority to act against "property," the immutable nature of Tornado Cash's smart contracts means they cannot be controlled or owned, and therefore do not constitute property under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated that these smart contracts must now be removed from the sanctions list, allowing U.S. users to once again utilize this privacy-preserving protocol. The appellate court has instructed the Texas District Court to approve the partial summary judgment motion filed by plaintiffs-appellants Joseph Van Loon and others.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Forta is a Web3 security company supported by a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and other investors, which has now launched a new product called Firewall to help detect and prevent smart contract vulnerabilities.It is reported that this firewall uses a machine learning and artificial intelligence model named FORTRESS, which analyzes and detects high-risk transactions by examining transaction logs. The business model of the Forta firewall is to charge a fixed monthly fee, although Beal declined to disclose the specific amount. Initial clients include Euler, Plume, and Balmy.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Cardano has announced the completion of integration with the smart contract platform BitcoinOS, bringing over $1.3 trillion in Bitcoin liquidity to its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.It is reported that the integration will utilize zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography technology to achieve a trustless connection between Bitcoin assets and Cardano through the BOS Grail bridging protocol. This protocol employs BOS's ZK BitSNARK verification protocol, allowing Bitcoin transactions and assets to bridge to the Cardano blockchain without sacrificing decentralization and security.Ken Kodama, CEO of Emurgo, the leading organization in Cardano's Web3 adoption, stated that this integration "has the potential to unlock new cross-chain functionalities" and may drive the adoption of DeFi. He emphasized that BOS's bridging and zero-knowledge technology will provide a secure and trustless access route for Cardano's "users, projects, and developers" to Bitcoin.Notably, BOS has partnered with the layer two scaling solution Merlin Chain to deploy the BitcoinOS Grail bridging protocol on September 10. Merlin Chain founder Jeff Yin stated that this collaboration will provide users with "trustless, decentralized" bridging services for Bitcoin native assets, enabling cross-chain transactions without centralized security measures through zero-knowledge proofs directly written to the Bitcoin blockchain.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com News, Argentine judicial authorities have recently recognized the legal validity of blockchain-based smart contracts for the first time, marking a significant breakthrough in the country's application of blockchain technology. This decision grants smart contracts legal enforceability in Argentina, paving the way for their use in commercial areas such as lease agreements and purchase payments.It is reported that the first legally recognized smart contract is a loan agreement built on the Cardano blockchain. The contract was reached by two Argentine Cardano ambassadors, Mauro Andreoli and Lucas Macchia, involving a four-month loan of 10,000 ADA (approximately $3,430) at an annual interest rate of 10%.Andreoli stated, "We have just signed the first contract on the Cardano network that is fully compliant with the laws of the Argentine Republic and has legal and judicial binding force." He emphasized that this means any breach of contract can be enforced in court to fulfill obligations in ADA. To ensure the legal validity of the smart contract, both parties also signed a supplementary legal document detailing the contract's content, the blockchain used, and the transaction ID of the relevant wallet addresses. This practice may become the standard procedure for the legalization of smart contracts in the future.

ChainCatcher news, Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China, recently pointed out in an article in the "Current Affairs Report" that the digital renminbi features a dual-layer operational framework, combining both account and value models. In the future, the digital renminbi will deepen its development in areas such as cross-border payments and smart contracts, aiding in the internationalization of the renminbi and the construction of a unified domestic market.The digital renminbi integrates both account and value models and achieves a unified ledger through data capability construction: under the account model, it can be integrated and interconnected with the traditional banking account system; under the value model, it can facilitate value exchange in the form of currency strings, providing smart payments on the blockchain and usable in extreme offline scenarios such as "no network" and "no electricity," optimizing traditional trade finance processes and supporting cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been criticized for allegedly violating the terms of the MIT License in its smart contracts. X user 0xCygaar (self-identified as an AbstractChain contributor) publicly accused the agency of not properly including the required license attribution when using the OpenZeppelin library (an open-source code resource). If confirmed, this omission could constitute a violation of copyright law, as the MIT License explicitly requires that any substantial use or modification of its code includes the original license. X users claim they have warned the FBI to "take necessary measures against the FBI."The MIT License governs the use of blockchain technology, particularly within the Ethereum ecosystem. It can be distributed, modified, and used for free as long as the original license terms are followed. A public inspection of the FBI's smart contract on Etherscan shows that the code is marked as "unlicensed," sparking varied reactions from the community. The implications of the alleged violation could be serious, as the MIT License, while generally considered developer-friendly, is legally binding, and if OpenZeppelin chooses to do so, it can take legal action by sending a cease-and-desist order requiring the FBI to rectify the violation or stop using the code. However, any formal lawsuit against the FBI would face challenges due to sovereign immunity.

ChainCatcher news, cryptography researcher @LehmannLorenz stated on the X platform that his computer was nearly compromised, and just one click could install a malicious extension. The developers behind the extension were unverified, yet it garnered 1.7 million downloads within a day of release (more than any other extension) and a perfect 5/5 star rating. After downloading the malicious extension and extracting its contents, everything appeared normal - except for the obfuscated "extension.js" file that ran during installation. Log files indicated that the script ultimately encountered an error, relying on PowerShell execution, running entirely in memory without leaving any traces on the disk.In response, Slow Mist's Yu Xian stated that this is a supply chain net attack targeting Solidity smart contract developers. The editor environment is a high-risk area for supply chain attacks. They have always tried to isolate what they can, avoid installations whenever possible, and ensure the "just enough" principle. Anything flashy is thrown onto a separate computer or virtual machine.

ChainCatcher news, Uniswap Labs announced on the X platform that the Uniswap v4 security competition will end on October 1st at 20:00 Beijing time. Security researchers must submit vulnerability reports before the deadline to share a prize pool of $2.35 million.According to the announcement from Uniswap Labs, the prizes will be allocated based on the severity of the vulnerabilities, with a maximum prize of $2.25 million. Researchers can earn rewards by submitting vulnerability reports on smart contracts, and those who submit earlier will receive an additional 20% bonus incentive.

ChainCatcher news, Hardhat Chad, the founder of the mining project Ore on the Solana chain, announced on the X platform that Regolith Labs has launched Steel, a brand new modular framework designed for building smart contracts on Solana.Steel enables developers to build programs with minimal boilerplate code while providing flexible functionality options. The framework aims to enhance contract performance, simplify the development process, and bring more positive contributions to the Solana community.