SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

Tether added 14 tonnes of gold in Q2 2026, lifting reserves to a record 146 tonnes worth about $18 billion. Here is what the buildup means for USDT holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-record-146-tonnes-gold-reserves-august-2026/

The Senate pushed the CLARITY Act vote past its summer recess, leaving crypto's market-structure bill stalled for weeks and giving opponents like Elizabeth Warren more room to organize. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/senate-delays-clarity-act-vote-summer-recess-august-2026/

PowerCompute pledged 307 BTC against $18M in debt with no margin calls until September 2. Here is how the structure works and where the liquidation line sits. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/powercompute-18-million-bitcoin-loan-zero-margin-september-2026/

Uphold's new Exa Credit Card lets US users borrow against XRP collateral via Exactly Protocol and pick a payment plan. Live in select states. Here is what changes for cardholders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/uphold-exa-credit-card-xrp-collateral-us-august-2026/

Bitcoin's upside implied volatility fell to a record 23%, per Glassnode. Traders have stopped pricing in a rally with BTC stuck near $64,400 in August 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-implied-volatility-record-low-23-percent-august-2026/

Attackers behind the Coldcard firmware exploit sent 64 BTC and 200 ETH into Wasabi and Tornado Cash this week, laundering about $4.55M of a $100M haul. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/coldcard-hackers-launder-64-btc-200-eth-mixers-august-2026/

The Ethereum Foundation's Trillion Dollar Security initiative funded WEBCAT, a tool that lets browsers check a site's code matches what developers published. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-foundation-webcat-browser-code-verification-august-2026/

S&P Global Ratings assigned BlackRock's tokenized money market fund BRSRV its highest AAAm principal stability rating, a first for an on-chain fund at this tier. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/blackrock-brsrv-tokenized-fund-sp-global-aaam-rating-august-2026/

Robinhood Chain's total value locked reached $774 million as ecosystem token CASHCAT gained 120% in a week, pushing the new layer-2 up the multi-chain rankings. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/robinhood-chain-774m-tvl-cashcat-surges-120-august-2026/

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes bought 10.9M ENA worth $985K, pushing his total Ethena purchases to 22.64M tokens. Here is what the accumulation signals. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/arthur-hayes-985k-ena-purchase-ethena-conviction-august-2026/

Attackers used social-engineering phone calls to target Point72, Two Sigma, and Citadel, exposing the human layer that no firewall protects. What crypto holders should learn. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wall-street-social-engineering-hack-point72-two-sigma-citadel-august-2026/

A 16-person volunteer group scanned 390 Bitcoin repositories with AI and human review, flagging 4,962 issues, 720 rated high or critical, in under 30 hours. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-red-team-5000-security-findings-audit-august-2026/

Bitwise data shows 13 governments hold a combined $26.8B in Bitcoin, with the US in front. What the reserve numbers say about nation-state demand. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/governments-hold-26-8-billion-bitcoin-us-leads-august-2026/

Crypto.com Pay is now accepted at Dubai Duty Free, letting travelers settle purchases with crypto at one of the UAE's largest retail operators. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-com-pay-dubai-duty-free-uae-august-2026/

Nigeria's Revenue Service now requires crypto platforms to withhold 1% on disposals and 10% on staking, mining, airdrops, and DeFi income. Here is what it means. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/nigeria-crypto-tax-withholding-staking-airdrops-august-2026/

The Second Circuit affirmed Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud and conspiracy conviction on August 4, closing his main appellate route and leaving his 25-year sentence intact. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sbf-fraud-conviction-appeal-denied-second-circuit-august-2026/

Ethereum researchers including Justin Drake proposed EIP-8363 to trim validator rewards as the staking ratio approaches 50%. Here is what is at stake for holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-eip-8363-cut-validator-rewards-staking-50-percent-august-2026/

Wells Fargo will launch tokenized deposits this fall, starting with round-the-clock dollar-to-pound transfers for select corporate clients on its own blockchain. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wells-fargo-tokenized-deposits-dollar-pound-transfers-august-2026/

Bybit's Austrian subsidiary secured an e-money license to develop cards, merchant services, and open banking, deepening the exchange race for EU payment rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bybit-austria-emoney-license-eu-payment-cards-august-2026/

BitGo is migrating roughly $7.4B of wrapped Bitcoin off LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, resetting the cross-chain plumbing behind one of crypto's largest BTC tokens. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitgo-migrates-7-4b-wrapped-bitcoin-chainlink-ccip-august-2026/

SpaceX beat Wall Street revenue forecasts but booked a $540M loss tied to its Bitcoin holdings, a reminder of how mark-to-market swings hit corporate crypto. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/spacex-540m-bitcoin-loss-corporate-treasury-august-2026/

Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego crafted a bipartisan ethics compromise to move the CLARITY Act past the 60-vote Senate threshold before the August recess. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/senate-bipartisan-60-votes-clarity-act-august-2026/

US senators are urging the SEC to investigate the Trump meme coin after a 98% drop erased billions and pushed it out of the top 100 altcoins. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/senators-sec-probe-trump-meme-coin-98-percent-collapse-august-2026/

Dinari partnered with Circle to offer tokenized US stock trading to American investors, settling 724 companies onchain in USDC. Details and context here. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/dinari-tokenized-us-stocks-circle-usdc-august-2026/

Western Union, the 175-year-old remittance giant, has launched a Solana-based Stablecard spendable at 175 million Visa merchants. Here is what it means for crypto spending. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/western-union-solana-stablecard-visa-merchants-august-2026/