A U.S. District Judge ruled on Thursday that Ripple Labs did not breach federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, a decision that sent the value of the token surging as high as 74 per cent

Shares of Coinbase Global Inc soared by around 25 per cent on Thursday, ahead of other cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms, after a landmark legal victory in a keenly-followed lawsuit involving blockchain firm Ripple Labs Inc.

A U.S. District Judge ruled on Thursday that Ripple Labs did not breach federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, a decision that sent the value of the token surging as high as 74 per cent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Ripple Labs and its present as well as former chief executives of selling unregistered securities when conducting a $1.3 billion offering for XRP, which was created in 2012.

It was the first time a U.S. judge had found against the Securities and Exchange Commission where the agency has alleged a crypto token is a security and subject to its strict investor protection laws, buoying hopes over the future of the crypto market.

Shares in Coinbase, which is also involved in litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the trading of its crypto tokens, soared 24.5 per cent on Thursday after the decision, closing at $107. Riot Platforms Inc climbed 15 per cent, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc added 14.5 per cent, and Microstrategy Inc advanced 11.7 per cent. Hut 8 Mining Corp increased 17.7 per cent.

Coinbase said it would permit trading of the XRP token again on its platform in line with the court ruling. We have read Judge (Analisa) Torres’ thoughtful decision. We have cautiously evaluated our assessment. It is time to relist, tweeted Coinbase’s CLO Paul Grewal.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, was 4.1 per cent higher at 31,584 while Ethereum, the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency, added 6.43 per cent to $1,993.3.