RaaS #514: Kalshi Raises $300M!

Aster Season 2 Checker Live, Circle’s Agent-to-Agent Payment Stack, and Moar!

Zcash’s latest piece frames financial privacy as civil resistance, warning that CBDCs and state surveillance mirror past authoritarian overreach. It positions ZEC as Bitcoin’s true successor, offering a fixed supply and shielded privacy.

A Hyperliquid user lost $21M after a private key compromise, with funds swiftly bridged to Ethereum. The breach, impacting DAI and MSYRUPUSDP, adds to concerns around Hyperliquid’s security posture, as key thefts continue to plague the industry in 2025.

Impossible (formerly Impossible Finance) is partnering with Flying Tulip for its Early Access Public Sale, on seed-round terms, 100% principal protection, full unlock at TGE, zero team token unlocks, and deflationary supply.

A sign as universal as gravity.

CZ addressed rumors linking Binance Labs to Hyperliquid, clarifying that while Jeff was in the 2018 YZiLabs incubator, the project failed, and YZi Labs has no stake in HL. He missed a call with Jeff due to an alarm error, but emphasized support for all builders.

Kalshi raised $300M at a $5B valuation as it overtook Polymarket with 60%+ market share. Backed by a16z, Sequoia, and Coinbase Ventures, Kalshi is now expanding to 140+ countries. Its sports-driven growth has shaken DraftKings and FanDuel in recent weeks.

Zackary Skelly released new crypto hiring benchmarks, covering time-to-hire, pass-through rates, and offering a calculator for teams. With help from Chris Ahsing and Blockcomp, the report crowdsources anonymous data to improve transparency across the industry.

Happy marketer is an oxymoron.

BVNK hit $20B+ TPV and now sits at the center of a $1.5–2.5B bidding war between Coinbase and Mastercard. Its API powers real-time, multi-chain, stablecoin payments for enterprises. Coinbase wants the rails, infra that plugs into treasury systems and moves billions frictionlessly.

Aster Stage 2 airdrop checker is live. 153,932 wallets are eligible. Users can choose between claiming tokens (with no vesting) or receiving a full refund of S2 trading fees. The selection deadline is October 12; airdrop claims begin October 14. Beware of scam links.

Etherscan just rolled out a new feature for EIP-7702 delegated addresses; you’ll now see a labeled tag on address pages showing which EOA has delegated authority.

Over 50% of the internet is now bots. AI-driven content is homogenizing the web, eroding authenticity and trust. Decentralization, across compute, identity, storage, and AI, is the key to reviving a human, diverse, and resilient digital ecosystem.

Stable is building a purpose-built chain for USDT payments, addressing issues like delays and unpredictable finality. With Stable Pay launching on mainnet, users can send gasless payments using only a username, bringing Web3 payments closer to mainstream UX.

Ethereum is becoming crypto’s private money layer, combining privacy tech like Kohaku with mass adoption and liquidity. Unlike Bitcoin’s transparency or stablecoins’ control, it offers programmable, censorship-resistant value exchange at scale.

Top Gainers: IN, ZORA, AKE, KGEN, ATONE.

Crypto’s roots lie in privacy, yet today’s on-chain world is fully traceable. Now, new privacy rails, ZK, FHE, TEEs, and MPC are powering apps like Lighter, NilGPT, Railgun, and Zashi to restore autonomy.

Circle is building the AI payments stack: USDC-based, gasless, and cross-chain. With Gateway + x402, agents can transact autonomously at scale. They’re also co-developing A2A and AP2 with Google to standardize agent-to-agent and hybrid payment flows.

Morgan Stanley will open crypto access to all clients—including retirement accounts—starting in October 15. This ends prior limits that required $1.5M+ in assets and aggressive risk profiles. This follows Trump’s August executive order pushing for broader 401(k) access to crypto and alternative assets.

That’s all for today, touch grass this weekend!