Bitcoin jumped almost 5% on Thursday to as high as $31,809, the loftiest level since June 2022, after a federal judge ruled that XRP, a cryptocurrency associated with Ripple Labs, isn’t a security when sold to retail investors on digital-asset exchanges. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said Ripple’s sales to sophisticated institutional investors would, however, qualify as an unregistered sale of investment contracts, in violation of federal law, representing only a partial win for those who have advocated that XRP isn’t a security. XRP rallied almost 80% on Thursday and Ether jumped 7%, according to CoinDesk data.
