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Coinbase leads crypto stocks gains after Ripple Labs legal victory
By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shares of Coinbase Global Inc rose nearly 25% on Thursday, ahead of those of other cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies, following a landmark legal victory in a closely watched lawsuit involving the blockchain company Ripple Labs Inc.
A U.S. district judge ruled Thursday that Ripple Labs did not violate federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, a decision that sent the token’s value soaring as much as 74%.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Ripple Labs and its current and former CEOs of selling unregistered securities during a $1.3 billion offering for XRP, created in 2012.
It was the first time a U.S. judge ruled against the SEC in which the agency said a crypto token is a security subject to its strict investor protection rules, fueling optimism about the future of the cryptocurrency market.
Shares of Coinbase, which is also embroiled in litigation with the SEC over cryptocurrency token trading, rose 24.5% on Thursday following the decision, closing at $107. Riot Platforms Inc jumped 15%, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc rose 14.5% and Microstrategy Inc gained 11.7%. Hut 8 Mining Corp gained 17.7%.
Coinbase said it will again allow trading of the XRP token on its platform in line with the court ruling. “We read Judge [Analisa] Thoughtful decision by Torres. We have carefully examined our analysis. Time to get back on sale,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said on Twitter.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, 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)