SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

The US DOJ is investigating whether Binance failed to block trades tied to Iran, per Bloomberg. Here is what the sanctions probe means for the largest crypto exchange. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-doj-investigates-binance-iran-sanctions-september-2026/

Pragma tagged 6 of its 22 Starknet price feeds critical risk after a $3.5M Nostra exploit exposed the gap between oracle prices and real liquidation liquidity. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/pragma-flags-6-price-feeds-critical-risk-starknet-nostra-exploit-september-2026/

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index jumped to 78, its first Extreme Greed reading this month, as Bitcoin climbed past $86,000. Here is what the sentiment gauge signals. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-fear-greed-index-78-extreme-greed-september-2026/

Apple and Google have opened senior stablecoin and blockchain jobs, tied to Apple Pay strategy and Google Cloud's digital asset clients, per CoinMarketCap. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/apple-google-post-senior-stablecoin-blockchain-roles-september-2026/

COCA is discounting the COCA token stake required to unlock any Loyalty tier by 30% through September 30, locking in the higher cashback rate for six months. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/coca-card-staking-discount-loyalty-tiers-september-2026/

RedotPay launched Card Deposit, letting users fund accounts directly from PayPal, Wise, Revolut, and 15+ other apps with lower fees. Here's what it means for cardholders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/redotpay-card-deposit-fund-from-paypal-wise-revolut-september-2026/

Bitcoin's push to $85,000 triggered a $648M short squeeze, forcing out bearish traders as BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL all posted double-digit weekly gains. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-hits-85000-648m-short-squeeze-september-2026/

Vietnam's Deputy Finance Minister says the country expects to issue its first crypto-asset service provider licenses in 2026, a milestone for Southeast Asia. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/vietnam-license-first-crypto-asset-service-providers-2026-september-2026/

Solana dropped its target slot time from 300ms to 250ms, its third block-time reduction since August. Here is what the throughput push means for users. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/solana-cuts-block-time-17-percent-third-speedup-september-2026/

The ECB launched Pontes, a bank-only platform that opens the digital euro pilot phase and points to a broader test in mid-2027. Here is what it means. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ecb-pontes-digital-euro-pilot-bank-platform-september-2026/

ZetaChain's community approved a proposal to migrate the ZETA token to Solana and sunset its own Layer 1, passing with 99.4% support. Here is what changed. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/zetachain-votes-migrate-solana-wind-down-l1-september-2026/

A former quant researcher publicly accused Kalshi of inflated crypto trading volumes through wash trading, raising fresh integrity questions for prediction markets. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/kalshi-crypto-volume-wash-trading-allegations-september-2026/

A North Korean group called WaterPlum ran fake recruiter campaigns against crypto and AI developers, infecting 30,000 devices and taking $10.7M, researchers say. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/north-korean-waterplum-fake-recruiters-30k-devices-10m-crypto-september-2026/

Arbitrum One added more than $74M in real-world asset market cap over seven days, the most of any chain, per its official account. Here is what the number signals. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/arbitrum-leads-rwa-growth-74m-one-week-september-2026/

WSJ reports Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan told compliance staff to prioritize growth over a stolen debit card fraud scheme that tried to take at least $10M. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/polymarket-ceo-downplayed-10m-debit-card-fraud-scheme-september-2026/

NEAR rose more than 80% in seven days after launching confidential-by-default perpetual futures on Hyperliquid, Cointelegraph reported on September 20, 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/near-surges-80-percent-hyperliquid-confidential-perpetual-futures-september-2026/

XRP spot ETFs hit a record cumulative net-inflow high after 10 straight weeks of gains, while Solana funds post an even longer run, per CryptoPotato. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/xrp-etf-10-week-inflow-streak-solana-runs-further-september-2026/

The CLARITY Act died in the Senate 49-50, 11 votes short of cloture, ending crypto's market-structure push for 2026 over an unresolved ethics fight. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-crypto-market-structure-bill-collapses-months-negotiations-september-2026/

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from mBridge, the China-led blockchain settlement platform, per the FT. Here is what the exit signals for cross-border payment rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/saudi-arabia-withdraws-mbridge-china-cbdc-platform-september-2026/

Avici says it adds 0% FX markup on all its self-custodial Visa cards. Here is what that covers, the Visa fee it does not, and who it helps. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/avici-zero-fx-markup-self-custodial-card-september-2026/

An analysis shared by WuBlockchain says Robinhood Chain collected $4.5M in daily fees while paying its Ethereum settlement layer roughly $400. Here is the math. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/robinhood-chain-4-5m-daily-fees-400-ethereum-september-2026/

Coin Bureau says spot Bitcoin ETFs took in more than they lost from September 1-18, a net positive month even as BTC trades near $80,400. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/spot-bitcoin-etfs-net-positive-inflows-september-2026/

Cointelegraph reports the Turkish lira has collapsed to near-zero against Bitcoin. Here is what the chart signals for Turkish savers and how it fits a wider emerging-market pattern. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/turkish-lira-collapses-near-zero-against-bitcoin-september-2026/

Gate's security team flagged FomoPeek, an iOS app that reads the clipboard and steals wallet credentials. Risk controls blocked losses. Here is what to do. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/gate-io-fomopeek-ios-malware-wallet-credential-theft-september-2026/

Brazil's central bank will block virtual assets, including stablecoins, from settling one type of cross-border payment, tightening rules on a $1.1 trillion market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/brazil-central-bank-blocks-stablecoins-cross-border-rail-september-2026/