15-7-2023 (SINGAPORE) Bitcoin has risen to its highest point this year following a legal victory for XRP, which was ruled not to be a security by a US judge. Ripple Labs Inc did not violate securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, according to the judge’s decision. This marks the first win for a cryptocurrency company in a lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The decision has unleashed a wave of optimism among crypto investors who believe that more cryptocurrencies may also not be deemed securities. The enthusiasm, however, was tempered by a report that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has laid off more than 1,000 people in recent weeks.
Coinbase has also announced that it will limit its crypto staking services for retail customers in California, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wisconsin, pending proceedings initiated against the exchange last month by several states, claiming that the program violated securities laws.
Bitcoin hit its highest price since June 2022, touching $31,818, before edging down to trade around $30,091 at 2009 GMT on Friday. Second-biggest token ether had its best session since March on Thursday, and XRP soared 73% on Thursday and held most of these gains on Friday.
“The regulatory environment is changing,” said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital. “And by what we have seen in the last 24 hours, it could be for the better.”
Following the decision, several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase and Bitstamp, resumed trading of XRP on their platforms, after having suspended trading of the token in 2021 due to the SEC’s lawsuit. Binance.US said on Friday it had also enabled XRP trading on its exchange.
Cryptocurrencies have staged a gradual recovery so far this year, after prices fell sharply last year and a series of bankruptcies at major crypto firms, including crypto exchange FTX, left investors with heavy losses.
