We return to our usual Friday tradition. HODL FM Digest brings the main news from the world of cryptocurrencies. Before discussing lawsuits, launches, and regulation, let’s check out the week’s biggest gainers and losers.
Top Gainers and Losers of the Week
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) increased by 37.20% over the week, reaching $36.75.
- Worldcoin (WLD) climbed 32.62%, with the current price at $1.55.
- Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) rose 28.06%, landing at $1.62.
- Walrus (WAL) decreased by 14.83%, reaching a price of $0.591.
- Pyth Network (PYTH) fell by 14.06%, with the current price at $0.1438.
- Pi (PI) declined by 9.53%, now trading at $0.7876.
India’s Supreme Court Pushes for Crypto Rules
India’s Supreme Court is tired of mixed signals. The government is pleased to collect a 30% tax on digital assets. But what about the actual rules? The court wants to know how that makes sense. For example, Justice Surya Kant referred to crypto as a “parallel economy” and said it could endanger the nation's stability if left unregulated.
Government lawyers gave the classic response: “We’ll consider it”. Meanwhile, experts say that regulation will happen slowly, rather than through a grand reform overnight.
Some optimists think the executive action could come before Parliament moves. But let's be realistic! India has already considered several bills on cryptocurrencies, but none have reached the finish line. So, for now, Indian cryptocurrency users are subject to high taxes and zero legal clarity.
True Markets Launches Mobile DeFi App and Closes $11M Round
True Markets is a decentralized finance (DeFi) trading platform that believes crypto should be as easy as checking your weather app, and finally, someone is doing something about it. Built on the Solana blockchain, the app is now live and offers commission-free trading, smart order routing, and non-custodial wallets.
Today we are announcing two major milestones for True Markets:
— True Markets (@truemarketsco) May 20, 2025
- The official launch of the True Markets App
- An $11M Series A, for a total raise of $20M, led by @Accomplices and @RRE, supported by @recvcx @variantfund @PaypalVentures
Here’s how we're changing the game👇 pic.twitter.com/fTvzFXQzC2
Recently, the project raised over $11 million in fresh funding. In addition, the round was led by Accomplice and RRE Ventures with support from PayPal Ventures, Variant Fund, and others. That brings their total funding to $20 million. Not bad for a platform that’s trying to fix “clunky workflows” and “fragmented liquidity”. Behind the scenes are former executives from Coinbase and Circle, hoping to make DeFi accessible as scrolling on a favorite app.
Their next step will be to launch TrueX, a CeFi product focused on institutional liquidity, because even big players deserve an interface that doesn't look like it was created in 2009.
Milei Ends Crypto Task Force as LIBRA Fallout Grows
Argentinian President Javier Milei has officially disbanded the working group investigating his ties to the LIBRA token, a memecoin he publicly supported earlier this year. The group handed its files to the Public Prosecutor, packed up, and went home, but the case is not closed.
After Milei’s tweet dubbed LIBRA a ticket to financial freedom, the token moonshot to $4.5 billion, and then nosedived by over 85% within days. Retail investors got burned, and political heat followed fast.
Critics say the disbanding of the task force looks more like damage control than mission accomplished. Meanwhile, a federal judge froze assets and ordered a deep dive into the finances of Milei, his sister Karina, and a few others in the orbit of the token.
No one knows who actually created LIBRA or where the money ended up, but that hasn’t stopped lawsuits. Class actions have already been filed in the US and Spain, and Argentina’s courts are still in play.
SEC Says NFT Royalties Don’t Make Tokens Securities
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce shared her thoughts on NFTs this week. She noted that tokens that guarantee royalties to creators are not always considered securities. Peirce said NFT royalties are more like streaming income for musicians than stock investment returns.
Some media misinterpreted her comments, but legal experts quickly clarified her position. Royalties going to creators are not investment income. Earnings from a business are considered to be outside the SEC’s normal jurisdiction.
NFTs become tricky when they say they will distribute royalty payments to more than one person. Depending on its structure, such an agreement could fall under securities laws.
Meanwhile, the company behind NFTs, OpenSea, was given some good news recently. Officials from the SEC have ended their investigation of the marketplace. OpenSea’s lawyers have asked the Commission to define NFT platforms as neither exchanges nor brokers. So, creators and collectors of NFTs had a good reason to be happy about the relatively sane approach taken this week.
That wraps up this week’s key developments in crypto.
India might finally stop taxing ghosts and start writing real crypto rules. True Markets launched its DeFi app on Solana, backed by strong investor support. Meanwhile, Argentina’s political scene is heating up faster than the memecoin it’s trying to forget. And in the US, the SEC gave NFTs some breathing room by saying royalties don’t magically turn them into securities (at least for now). Next week, we’ll return with more news, clearer insights, and the top stories in crypto.
Jordan V.
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