By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shares of Coinbase Global Inc jumped nearly 25% on Thursday, ahead of other cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies, following a landmark legal victory in a closely watched lawsuit. monitored involving blockchain company Ripple Labs Inc.
A U.S. District Judge ruled on Thursday that Ripple Labs did not violate federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, a move that sent the token’s value skyrocketing by as much as 74%.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Ripple Labs and its current and former CEOs of selling unregistered securities when completing a $1.3 billion offering for XRP, which was created in 2012.
It was the first time a U.S. judge had ruled against the SEC where the agency alleged a crypto token was a security and subject to its strict investor protection rules, sparking optimism about the market’s future. of cryptography.
Shares of Coinbase, which is also embroiled in litigation with the SEC over its trading in crypto tokens, jumped 24.5% on Thursday after the ruling, to end at $107. Riot Platforms Inc jumped 15%, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc rose 14.5% and Microstrategy Inc gained 11.7%. Hut 8 Mining Corp added 17.7%.
Coinbase said it would allow trading of the XRP token on its platform again in accordance with the court ruling. “We read the judge [Analisa] Thoughtful decision by Torres. We have carefully reviewed our analysis. Time to relist,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal tweeted.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, last rose 4.1% to 31,584 while Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, rose 6.43% to 1,993 .3$.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Deepa Babington)