The impact of the KelpDAO exploit has spread beyond one protocol, with multiple DeFi platforms recording notable 7-day TVL declines. The data shows both where the largest capital losses occurred and where relative damage was most severe.

Hyperliquid remains the clear leader, but April’s data shows the perp DEX market becoming more competitive as edgeX, Lighter, and GRVT continue to gain ground. At the same time, overall perp trading activity has been cooling since peaking in October 2025.

The fundraising round comes after NYSE parent ICE invested $600M in March, potentially bringing the latest round funding size to $1B.

Polymarket and Kalshi have been attracting increased investor interest in the past months. In March, Kalshi raised over $1B at a $22B valuation, roughly doubling its value since November.

Vercel has suffered unauthorized access to internal systems, tracing the attack to a compromise of Context ai, an AI tool used by one of its employees. The attacker used that access to take over the employee’s Google Workspace and reach internal environments, while Vercel says sensitive environment variables were not exposed.

The announcement came after a threat actor claiming to be linked to ShinyHunters posted that they were selling alleged Vercel database keys, source code, internal deployment access, and API tokens for $2 million. 

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.