In a significant win for Ripple Labs on Thursday, the federal court who rendered a summary judgment in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit determined that the cryptocurrency solution provider did not break the law by making its native XRP coin available to clients through algorithms and on public exchanges. Judge Analisa Torres of the New York Southern District Court maintained that the XRP sales on exchanges were « blind bid/ask transactions » and did not qualify as securities offerings because the purchasers had no expectation of profit.
XRP market optimistic following judge’s split decision in Ripple v. SEC case
Even though the court upheld the SEC’s authority over institutional fundraising, the issue that started at the end of 2020 has not yet been resolved. As a result, because the judge deemed the latter to have violated securities laws, institutional purchases (from Ripple) might be targeted through class-action lawsuit.
Market players hailed the overall positive conclusion as a big triumph for the digital assets industry, with the prices of numerous cryptocurrencies surging, even though the regulator only achieved a partial victory. The judgment, while unique to the Ripple case, might have greater effects on the sector as a whole, according to commentators on Thursday’s decision. The industry has been closely following the case’s progress over the last three years.
Before Friday, XRP, the linked token with Ripple, produced the greatest daily green candle, increasing above $0.75 from $0.50, where it was trading before the judge’s remark. According to statistics from CoinMarketCap, the price of XRP/USD is presently holding around $0.79, up 67% over the previous day.
The market valuation of XRP increased significantly to above $40 billion, taking it from fifth to fourth position ahead of Binance’s BNB currency.
XRP symbol liquidation volume increased by more over $52 million, according to Coinglass statistics, as a result of the dramatic market action.
After Bitcoin ($67.18 million), XRP has generated $61.80 million in liquidation volume over the past 24 hours.
Ripple’s summary judgment drives Bitcoin and altcoins
In response to the announcement, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty praised the decision as a triumph for the San Francisco-based financial technology business.
Alderoty stated in a tweet:
“A huge win today – as a matter of law – XRP is not a security. Also, a matter of law – sales on exchanges are not securities. Sales by executives are not securities. Other XRP distributions – to developers, to charities, to employees are not securities. The only thing the Court found constitutes an investment contract is past direct XRP sales to institutional clients. There will be further court proceedings only on these institutional sales per the Court’s order”.
Bitcoin tracked a spectacular advance towards $32,000 late Thursday, but dropped short of the mark, reaching a one-year high of $31,800. Meanwhile, Ethereum has broken beyond the $2,000 barrier following a months-long fight.
Other altcoins followed the surge, with virtually all of the top ten non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization gaining between 6% and 30% in the previous 24 hours. Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Polygon (MATIC) have gained 23.74%, 32.65%, and 18.80% in the last 24 hours, respectively.
Exchange and public mining firm equities are on the rise
Coinbase and other exchange sites reacted to the news by informing users that the XRP coin would be relisted on their systems. In contrast, Gemini has stated that it is considering listing the coin for spot and futures trading.
“Trading is anticipated to begin later today, if liquidity conditions are met. Once sufficient supply of this asset is established trading on our XRP-USD, XRP-USDT and XRP-EUR trading pairs will launch in phases. Support for XRP may be restricted in some supported jurisdictions”.
Coinbase
Kraken, Bitstamp, and Crypto.com have added functionality for depositing and trading the cryptocurrency to its US consumers.
The news by Coinbase to allow token trading on its platform bodes well for COIN stock, which concluded the day up 24% at $107. Significantly, COIN’s breakthrough above $100 is the first since May 2022. Other publicly traded firms that profited from the verdict included MicroStrategy (MSTR), Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Hut 8 (HUT), all of which rose by double digits on Thursday.
