SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

Illinois published draft rules explaining how its proposed 0.2% digital asset transaction tax would apply to stablecoin transfers, DeFi swaps, and other onchain activity. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/illinois-crypto-tax-rules-defi-stablecoins-september-2026/

Payy's post-mortem pins its September 24 bridge exploit on a flaw in Aztec's Noir/Barretenberg verifier that accepted an invalid burn proof, draining ~1.92M USDC. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/payy-post-mortem-noir-verifier-flaw-1-9m-usdc-september-2026/

SlowMist says suspected North Korean hackers moved stolen Bitget assets through Chainflip and CoW, exposing the cross-chain laundering playbook behind the hack. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/north-korea-hackers-route-bitget-funds-chainflip-cow-september-2026/

Binance Pay now works at PayPay-accepting merchants across Japan, connecting crypto balances to one of the country's largest QR payment networks for retail spending. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/binance-pay-live-paypay-merchants-japan-september-2026/

SEC Chair Paul Atkins told CNBC the agency is proceeding to clarify how to raise money onchain even after the CLARITY Act failed in Congress. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sec-atkins-onchain-fundraising-clarity-clarity-act-september-2026/

The ECB is inviting fintechs and payment firms to test digital euro features, with 2027 workshops on AI-enabled and machine-to-machine payments. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ecb-digital-euro-testing-fintechs-2027-september-2026/

Tether says it helped authorities freeze nearly $550M in Iran-linked USDT in 2026, showing how centralized stablecoin issuers act as compliance agents. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-freezes-550m-iran-linked-usdt-september-2026/

CleanSpark subsidiary CSDC Finance closed a $2.276B private offering of senior secured notes, one of the largest debt raises tied to a listed Bitcoin miner. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/cleanspark-csdc-2-3b-senior-secured-notes-september-2026/

The UK's FCA secured a confiscation order so victims of a £1.5m crypto investment fraud can recover lost funds, a rare full-restitution outcome in crypto cases. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fca-secures-restitution-crypto-fraud-victims-september-2026/

The White House publicly blamed Democrats for failing to pass the Crypto Clarity Act, escalating pressure on US crypto market structure legislation. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/white-house-blames-democrats-crypto-clarity-act-september-2026/

Bitget restarted Bitcoin withdrawals at 08:00 UTC on Sept 28 after its Sept 24 security incident, saying the flaw is fixed and user balances are intact. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitget-btc-withdrawals-live-phased-resumption-september-2026/

Belarus registered its first-ever crypto banks, requiring accreditation from the National Bank before operations. Here is what the move signals for the region. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/belarus-registers-first-crypto-banks-september-2026/

Ondo Finance opened perpetual trading on tokenized stocks and ETFs, letting traders post holdings as collateral and run the basis trade on one venue. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ondo-perps-tokenized-stock-perpetuals-24-7-september-2026/

Blockchain.com is reportedly planning a $500M IPO this year at a $4-6B valuation, adding to a wave of crypto infrastructure firms testing public markets. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/blockchain-com-500m-ipo-4-6-billion-valuation-september-2026/

A second suspected memecoin rug factory has surfaced on Robinhood Chain, with GoPlus tracing over $9M in losses as the network's TVL climbs toward $1.5B. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/robinhood-chain-memecoin-rug-factories-9m-september-2026/

RedotPay says an independent Big Four firm signed off on its financials. Here is what a clean audit does and does not tell crypto card holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/redotpay-clean-big-four-financial-audit-september-2026/

Chainlink updated its cross-chain bridge infrastructure months after a $292M hack at a rival exposed the risks in moving value between blockchains. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/chainlink-hardens-cross-chain-bridge-292m-exploit-september-2026/

Citigroup, with $2.8 trillion in assets, is teaming up with Coinbase to enable stablecoin payments for institutional clients, a signal that legacy finance now treats stablecoins as settlement rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/citigroup-coinbase-stablecoin-payments-institutional-september-2026/

Quebec's financial regulator, the AMF, warned that meme token launchpad Pump.fun is not registered and not authorized to offer products in the province. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/quebec-amf-warns-pump-fun-not-registered-september-2026/

THORChain developers refused Bitget's request to block the attacker behind a $387.5M hack, choosing censorship resistance over asset recovery. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/thorchain-rejects-bitget-block-attacker-funds-decentralization-september-2026/

California becomes the first US state to ban memecoins, with Governor Newsom framing the signed law as a direct political counter to the Trump administration. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/california-newsom-memecoin-ban-opposite-of-trump-september-2026/

A yen stablecoin traded at four times its intended value, pushing South Korean regulators to reconsider rules that keep professional market makers off local exchanges. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/south-korea-market-maker-rules-jpyc-4x-peg-september-2026/

China's Ministry of State Security says crypto offers no anonymity and no legal escape for criminals, hardening the stance from the world's most restrictive market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/china-mss-crypto-anonymity-illusion-no-legal-escape-september-2026/

Vitalik Buterin says the 2027 Hegota upgrade may be Ethereum's final fork that a 2015-era user would still recognize, before a shift to cryptographic scaling. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/hegota-ethereum-last-normal-fork-vitalik-september-2026/

Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok says AI agents that auto-move household cash could spark 'agentic bank runs.' What it means for stablecoins and DeFi liquidity. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/apollo-torsten-slok-agentic-bank-run-stablecoins-september-2026/