Ripple sales to public isn't a security, judge rules, sending XRP up 30%

XRP XRPUSD spiked 30% midday Thursday after a U.S. District Court judge ruled that XRP isn’t a security in terms of Programmatic Sales, meaning sales to the general public.

However, it denied Ripple Labs’ motion for summary judgment regarding Institutional Sales. The court will issue a separate order to set a trial date in due course, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said in the decision.

XRP jumped to $0.61, its highest level in more than a year, after the news.

In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs and two of its executives, alleging that the company raised more than $1.3B through an unregistered digital asset securities offering. The SEC contends that most cryptocurrencies fit the definition of securities, though it hasn’t made that accusation against bitcoin BTCUSD or ethereum ETHUSD, the two largest cryptos by market cap.

Other cryptocurrencies also jumped in Thursday trading. Bitcoin BTCUSD, the world’s largest crypto by market cap, gained 1.5% to $30.9K, ethereum ETHUSD rose 3.3% to $1.95K, cardano ADAUSD jumped 9.0%, litecoin (LTC-UD) +7.4%, and polygon MATICUSD +9.4%.

Crypto-related stocks also climbed. Coinbase Global COIN surged 9.6%, Marathon Digital MARA +11%, Riot Platforms RIOT +12%, Hut 8 Mining HUT +12%, Hive Digital HIVE +18%, Bakkt Holdings BKKT +6.8%.