Why Coinbase Stock Surged Today

Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN shares are moving higher Thursday, alongside several of crypto-related stocks, after a U.S. judge ruled that Ripple (XRP/USD) sales do not constitute an offer of investment contracts.

What To Know: The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC dates back to 2020 when the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple. The commission alleged that the company and two of its executives raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering. Ripple argued that XRP is a digital asset, not a security.

The court used the Howey Test to assess whether specific transactions met the criteria of "investment contracts" before coming to its decision, which is likely to impact the entire crypto industry and many companies up against similar legal challenges. 

In a partial approval of the summary judgment requests from both parties, Judge Analisa Torres stated, "In light of the reasons provided, the SEC's request for summary judgment is APPROVED with regard to the Institutional Sales, but is REJECTED in all other aspects."

"The defendants' request for summary judgment is APPROVED concerning the Programmatic Sales, the Other Distributions, and the sales by Larsen and Garlinghouse, but is REJECTED with regard to the Institutional Sales."

Several crypto tokens are surging following the news, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, among others. 

Coinbase received two price target changes Thursday. Barclays analyst Benjamin Budish downgraded Coinbase from Equal-Weight to Underweight and raised the price target from $61 to $70.

B of A Securities analyst Jason Kupferberg maintained Coinbase with a Underperform and raised the price target from $47 to $49.

Coinbase, the foremost cryptocurrency exchange platform in the United States, aims to serve as a secure and regulatory-compliant gateway for both retail investors and institutions looking to enter the cryptocurrency economy.

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COIN Price Action: Shares of COIN were up 23.5% at $106.16 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay