Why the Crypto World Is Celebrating Ripple’s Partial Win Over the SEC

The crypto world is celebrating after a federal judge issued a long-awaited ruling in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple Labs, saying some sales of Ripple’s xrp token did not constitute illegal securities sales. Shares in top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase soared 25% after the ruling dropped, and xrp tokens are up 78% over the past 24 hours.

But the ruling on Tuesday wasn’t a complete victory for crypto. The judge also ruled that Ripple had violated securities laws with sales of xrp to big investors, and that the company’s top two executives have to go to trial over their alleged role in those illegal sales. What wasn’t illegal, according to Judge Analisa Torres, who oversaw the case, was selling xrp to smaller investors on crypto exchanges. That part of the decision was good news for Coinbase, which is facing an SEC lawsuit over operating an illegal crypto exchange heavily used by small investors.