Major cryptocurrencies experienced a notable uptick on Thursday following a federal judge’s decision to impose a $125 million penalty on Ripple Labs Inc. The ruling, which Ripple characterized as a win over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided a boost to the crypto market.
Bitcoin surged by up to 4.5%, reaching over $57,600, while Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, climbed nearly 5% at its peak. Despite this rebound, both cryptocurrencies remain significantly below their levels from the previous week, following a sharp decline on Monday—the market’s steepest since the collapse of FTX in 2022.
The recovery comes amid a broader global stock market selloff, driven by concerns about economic prospects, escalating tensions in the Middle East, and skepticism over the viability of heavy investments in artificial intelligence.
“The market remains quite jittery after recent events,” said Benjamin Celermajer, co-chief investment officer at Magnet Capital. “If it becomes clear that the concerns were overstated, many may view the market’s recent drop as excessive,” he noted.
Cryptocurrencies had initially regained some ground on Tuesday, though this rally quickly lost momentum. As of 11:03 a.m. in Singapore on Thursday, Bitcoin was trading at $57,449, and Ether was at $2,457.
The federal judge’s ruling on Wednesday required Ripple to pay a civil penalty of $125 million, a significant reduction from the nearly $2 billion sought by the SEC. The SEC had filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, accusing the company of illegally raising funds by selling the XRP token without proper registration. Following the ruling, XRP experienced a surge of up to 25%.
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