Slash has raised $100M in a Series C round led by Ribbit Capital and co-led by Khosla Ventures and Goodwater Capital, valuing the company at $1.4B.

The fintech platform is building a business banking stack focused on speed and automation, now serving 5K+ companies and reaching $250M ARR with a team of just 60 employees.

Slash also introduced Twin, an AI private banker designed to automate financial workflows, including payments, expense tracking, and accounting operations.

👉 x.com/victorcardenas/status/2044802270928445783?s=20

Superstate has introduced FundOS, a platform that enables asset managers to bring traditional funds onchain without rebuilding existing structures.

The system allows managers to choose blockchains, DeFi integrations, and stablecoin flows, while FundOS handles infrastructure and connections to custodians and administrators via APIs.

FundOS already powers USTB and USCC ($1B+ AUM) and is being adopted by institutions like Invesco, positioning it as a ready-made stack for tokenized fund distribution.

Inside FundOS:

- Real-time shareholder tracking

- 24/7 subscriptions and redemptions

- Compliant on-chain transfers

- DeFi integrations and collateral use

- Transferable fund shares

👉 x.com/SuperstateInc/status/2044794575689306530?s=20

Tempo has unveiled Zones, a new feature that lets companies run private, permissioned blockchains alongside its main network, designed for use cases like payroll, treasury, and settlements.

Zones operate as isolated execution environments connected to Tempo Mainnet, keeping transactions private while still allowing assets to move across the broader ecosystem, including liquidity pools and onramps.

Each Zone is managed by a trusted operator, such as a financial institution, which controls execution and access, while assets remain secured on the mainnet and withdrawable only by their owners.

Lately, big-name institutions like Visa, Stripe, and Standard Chartered have stepped in to take on validator roles within Tempo.

👉 x.com/tempo/status/2044769225533968616?s=20

Rhea Finance is dealing with an exploit tied to a vulnerability in its Margin Trading feature, which enabled a coordinated pool manipulation attack. The incident affected the Rhea Lend smart contract, while the Rhea DEX was not compromised.

That’s now the fifth hack in a week. As DeFi products get more complex, the cost of smart contract bugs, flawed mechanisms, and overlooked attack surfaces keeps getting higher.

Crypto market updates this week centered around payment systems, stablecoin infrastructure, protocol-level upgrades, and increased institutional participation.

🔎 Recent Updates & Developments

– Tether backed Drift recovery with up to $150M after exploit, integrating USD₮ and restoring user balances through trading revenue

– Kraken filed for U.S. IPO as Deutsche Börse invested $200M, signaling continued institutional demand for crypto exchange exposure 

– Hackers minted 1B DOT via vulnerability, exploiting bridge gateway to compromise token contract on Ethereum

– Visa, Stripe and Zodia Custody joined Tempo as validators, reinforcing institutional adoption of blockchain-based payment infrastructure

– Mastercard partnered with Crossmint to enable AI agents to execute payments using cards with user authorization

– Ether fi completed migration to OP Mainnet, bringing $220M TVL and scaling onchain financial services

– USD AI (CHIP) confirmed April 21 listing after CoinList sale, with Binance Futures already launching pre-market trading

Lumia has rolled out a major upgrade, cutting block times to ~300ms with ~600ms finality, positioning itself among the fastest RWA-focused chains. The update also introduces elastic blocks, which optimize block production and improve overall network efficiency.

A key highlight is the integration of SOC 2 security standards at the protocol level — making Lumia the first RWA blockchain to achieve this. 

This places it in the same compliance tier as institutional giants such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, providing meaningful context for its institutional readiness.

Lumia continues to build infrastructure for the full lifecycle of tokenized real-world assets, from issuance and compliance to liquidity and settlement. Its stack includes Lumia Chain, a zkEVM-based Layer 2, alongside products like Lumia Stream and Lumia Hub, designed to unlock tokenization and liquidity access.

Unlike spot trading, crypto options let users express directional views with defined risk and greater strategic flexibility. That makes options volume a clear signal of where more sophisticated trading activity and derivatives liquidity are starting to concentrate.

Binance unveils a Binance Chat, an integrated social hub for messaging and crypto transfers. The product enables users to engage in real-time market discussions, share trade-related content, and move assets without leaving the app.

What’s new in Binance Chat:

-One-tap access from the homepage or Binance Square

-Real-time market discussions within chatrooms

-Trade Cards and Red Packets for interactive sharing

- Instant crypto transfers directly inside conversations

👉 x.com/heyibinance/status/2044427941652639867?s=20

OpenSea has started granting early access to its OS Mobile app for beta testers, marking the first step toward its mobile-native experience. 

The team is onboarding testers 1-by-1 through live sessions and collecting real-time feedback, with engineers directly observing usage and iterating on features before a broader release.

Alongside the rollout, OpenSea has launched a 60-day 0% fee promotion on token trading via OS2, running through the end of May.

👉 x.com/opensea/status/2044122024281342028?s=20

Among the top performers are SuperEarn, a yield-earning DeFi protocol, Paimon, a BSC-based RWA and DeFi protocol, and Sierra Protocol, an issuer of SIERRA, a liquid yield token designed to combine RWA-backed and DeFi-backed yield.