SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper says passing the CLARITY Act is a national security matter, reframing US crypto rules as a contest over dollar stablecoins. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/esper-clarity-act-national-security-priority-august-2026/

Trump-backed World Liberty Financial received $100M from Guren 'Bobby' Zhou, a businessman under money-laundering investigation, per a New York Times report. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/world-liberty-financial-100m-money-laundering-suspect-august-2026/

The CLARITY Act has stalled again in the Senate, and the resistance is coming from community bankers worried about deposits, not the usual crypto skeptics. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/community-bankers-block-clarity-act-crypto-lobby-august-2026/

Grayscale withdrew S-1 registrations for its Cardano, Hedera and Polkadot spot ETFs on August 7, 2026, filing all three Form RW requests within minutes. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/grayscale-withdraws-cardano-hedera-polkadot-etf-registrations-august-2026/

Hardware wallet sales in Russia jumped 107% as users move to self-custody ahead of a new crypto law, per Cointelegraph. Regulation is pushing coins off exchanges. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/russia-cold-wallet-sales-107-percent-putin-crypto-law-august-2026/

BlackRock, Circle, and Franklin Templeton hold $7.23B in tokenized funds, but only $49.7M (0.69%) has reached DeFi. Q2 2026's record 99 hacks help explain why. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wall-street-7b-tokenized-funds-defi-under-1-percent-august-2026/

Empery offloaded 1,635 BTC for $102.2M in just over a month, cutting its unrestricted Bitcoin to 325 coins and testing the limits of the never-sell treasury model. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/empery-sells-1635-btc-never-sell-model-cracks-august-2026/

More than 100 crypto projects have shut down in 2026 in a dot-com-style washout. Here is what the failures mean for anyone holding funds on a platform. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-dotcom-shakeout-100-projects-fold-2026/

BTCPay Server cut off remote Lightning access after attackers exploited a vulnerability to drain funds from LND nodes. Here is what merchants need to check now. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/btcpay-restricts-remote-lightning-lnd-vulnerability-august-2026/

Marathon Digital pledged 18,750 BTC to secure $600M in new loans for energy and AI infrastructure, keeping its Bitcoin stack while raising growth capital. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/marathon-digital-600m-loan-18750-btc-collateral-august-2026/

Two weeks into BIP-110's mandatory signaling window, miner support sits near 0%. Here is what that number means for how Bitcoin upgrades actually pass. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-miners-reject-bip-110-zero-signaling-august-2026/

BitMEX's roughly $1 billion sale process fell apart after potential buyers backed out, leaving one of crypto's oldest derivatives venues without a deal. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitmex-1-billion-sale-collapses-buyers-walk-away-august-2026/

A fresh exploit is draining merchant Lightning nodes on Bitcoin's payment layer, the latest hit to the infrastructure that settles instant BTC transactions. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-lightning-payment-servers-infrastructure-exploit-august-2026/

Backpack has added GTA6 publisher Take-Two Interactive to its tokenized stock lineup on Solana via Sunrise, months before the game's November release. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/take-two-tokenized-stock-solana-backpack-gta6-august-2026/

A Michigan federal judge refused to shield Coinbase from state action over its sports event contracts, ruling federal law does not override state jurisdiction. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/coinbase-michigan-state-crypto-enforcement-sports-contracts-august-2026/

A US court granted Bybit expedited discovery to trace funds from the $1.5B North Korea hack, opening account identities, balances, and transaction records. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bybit-us-court-trace-15-billion-north-korea-hack-august-2026/

New XRP Ledger protocol amendments aim to support $530 million in tokenized Wall Street assets, positioning the network as an institutional settlement layer. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/xrp-ledger-amendments-530-million-tokenized-wall-street-assets-august-2026/

The US Treasury sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges accused of helping Iran's IRGC launder billions, escalating enforcement against sanctions-evasion rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-treasury-sanctions-crypto-exchanges-iran-irgc-august-2026/

Microsoft Threat Intelligence says attackers are storing malware instructions inside BNB Smart Chain smart contracts, a takedown-resistant technique that abuses public blockchains. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/microsoft-bnb-smart-chain-contracts-malware-delivery-august-2026/

Brazil's central bank will hold crypto transfers above $10,000 for up to 24 hours under new anti-fraud rules. What it means for users in Latin America's biggest market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/brazil-central-bank-24-hour-delay-crypto-transfers-10000-august-2026/

Uphold has launched crypto-backed borrowing, letting users draw cash against BTC, ETH, XRP or USDC without selling. Terms and availability remain unconfirmed. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/uphold-crypto-backed-borrowing-btc-eth-xrp-usdc-august-2026/

Nexo's US COO says the lender is back in the United States, nearly three years after it exited. The open question for cardholders: does the Nexo Card return too? Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/nexo-returns-us-market-august-2026/

American Bitcoin closed Q2 with 8,002 BTC, yet 3,090 coins, 38.6% of the reserve, sit restricted under its Bitmain arrangement. The catch matters. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/american-bitcoin-8002-btc-reserve-bitmain-restricted-august-2026/

Chainalysis data shows violent crypto theft passed $30M in the first half of 2026, with France leading at 30 known attacks. The physical security threat is growing. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/violent-crypto-theft-30-million-h1-2026-chainalysis-august-2026/

Crypto market maker Wintermute has secured US broker-dealer status to trade equities and ETF blocks, one of the first crypto-native firms to cross into Wall Street. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wintermute-sec-broker-dealer-license-equities-etf-august-2026/