Crypto Stocks Gain After Judge Dismisses Part of SEC's Ripple Case

By Dean Seal

Shares of companies in the cryptocurrency space are trading higher after the crypto firm Ripple Labs won early dismissal of some regulatory allegations related to its selling of $1.4 billion worth of a digital token known as XRP.

Shares of Coinbase Global, operator of the largest U.S. crypto exchange, are up 10% at $94.66 in midday trading. Shares of the digital payments group Block were up 6.3% at $75.73. Bitcoin miner Riot Platform's shares are 12% higher at $19.82. Fellow miner Marathon Digital's shares are up 12% at $18.85.

A federal judge on Thursday sided with Ripple's argument that roughly half of its sales of XRP, a token that Ripple founders developed in 2012 to facilitate cross-border payments, didn't constitute an illegal securities offering. Ripple has argued that XRP isn't a security, contrary to claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The decision could be helpful to other cryptocurrency companies that are fighting similar enforcement actions by the SEC. The Wall Street regulator's case against Ripple has largely been seen as a litmus test for the agency's authority in the crypto space.

Shares of crypto miners Cleanspark and Bit Digital were up 12% each as well, at $7.38 and $4.36, respectively. Hut 8 Mining shares have climbed 14% to $4.28. The stock of Iris Energy, a sustainable bitcoin mining company, is up 12% at $7.80.

MicroStrategy, a business-intelligence software provider that has built a large position in Bitcoin, saw its shares rise 5.7% to $436.93.

Bitcoin, the largest crypto asset by market capitalization, is up 1.7% at $30,820. Other major crypto assets are trading even larger gains.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2023 14:01 ET (18:01 GMT)

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