SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

World, the Sam Altman-backed project, launched World Money, a stablecoin-powered app for holding, earning, trading, and sending digital assets in 150+ countries. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sam-altman-world-money-stablecoin-app-150-countries-september-2026/

The SEC opened a temporary test path letting crypto platforms trade tokenized stocks under a compliance exemption. UNI rose over 18% in 24 hours on the news. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sec-innovation-exemption-tokenized-stock-trading-september-2026/

S&P Global is acquiring smart contract auditor OpenZeppelin days after backing Kaiko, signaling a push to price and audit risk for markets that never close. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sp-global-acquires-openzeppelin-24-7-markets-september-2026/

OFAC sanctioned crypto exchange BitBank and its Iranian backers for helping Tehran move value through digital assets, tightening the net on sanctions evasion. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-treasury-sanctions-bitbank-iran-crypto-evasion-september-2026/

ECB President Christine Lagarde personally intervened to stop Binance from securing an EU-wide license, per a WSJ report, signaling Europe's hardening line. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ecb-lagarde-blocks-binance-eu-wide-license-september-2026/

Zcash surged 17% while $345 million in leveraged positions were liquidated across crypto, one day after the Fed delivered its first rate hike since 2023. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/zcash-jumps-17-percent-345m-liquidations-crypto-traders-september-2026/

The House Financial Services Committee voted 28-21 to advance the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill, the first such measure to clear a full House committee. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/house-committee-advances-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-bill-september-2026/

Latin American telecom VIVA is the first carrier live on Iris, an Avalanche-based financial network debuting with a $43M commitment from Balesia Group. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/viva-telecom-avalanche-iris-network-43m-september-2026/

SOL and XRP spot ETFs pulled in net inflows on Sept. 16 while BTC and ETH funds saw outflows, a divergence that hints at rotation into alternative layer-1s. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sol-xrp-etf-inflows-btc-ether-outflows-september-2026/

Tether has lent about $1.5 billion to US precious metals dealer Gold.com, per Cointelegraph, pushing the stablecoin issuer deeper into commodity finance. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-lends-1-5-billion-us-gold-dealer-september-2026/

Moscow Exchange plans perpetual futures on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and TRX, pushing crypto derivatives into Russia's largest regulated trading venue. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/russia-moex-crypto-perpetual-futures-september-2026/

ZEC crossed a $23B market cap after a recent Zcash governance vote, per CoinGecko. Here is what the community decision signals for the privacy coin. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/zcash-governance-vote-zec-23b-market-cap-september-2026/

The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the bipartisan Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act 38-5, a rare cross-party vote on how US crypto is taxed. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/house-committee-advances-digital-asset-tax-certainty-act-september-2026/

Bitcoin and major tokens rose after the Fed's first rate hike since 2023, with Zcash up 23%. Prices as of September 17, 2026, and what it signals. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-markets-rally-fed-first-hike-since-2023-zcash-september-2026/

The UK is spending £500M over three years and hiring 500 officers to fight money laundering, naming crypto among the drivers of a £100 billion threat. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/uk-500m-economic-crime-crackdown-crypto-500-officers-september-2026/

Nine of Britain's ten largest retail banks now restrict crypto transactions, and the FCA says they cannot be forced to serve crypto customers. What it means for UK users. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/uk-retail-banks-block-limit-crypto-transactions-september-2026/

Deutsche Bank, with $1.7 trillion in assets, has opened a digital asset custody service for institutions, adding a major legacy bank to crypto's trust layer. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/deutsche-bank-crypto-custody-institutions-september-2026/

Hackers breached an Italian government email account and posed as police to pull Revolut customer data on high-value crypto holders, per an FT report. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/italian-government-email-breach-revolut-whale-data-police-impersonation-september-2026/

Federal prosecutors charged former Robinhood engineers who allegedly earned $50,000 each trading Hyperliquid perpetuals ahead of the exchange's public listing. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-charges-robinhood-engineers-insider-trading-hyperliquid-september-2026/

DeFi Development Corp bought 55,491 SOL, lifting its treasury past 2.38M tokens, and opened a $300M ATM for CHAD preferred stock to fund further buys. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/defi-development-corp-300m-atm-solana-treasury-september-2026/

Aave's new Custodied Collateral Lending proposal lets institutions borrow stablecoins against crypto held in Anchorage custody, splitting collateral from the pool. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/aave-custodied-collateral-lending-institutions-anchorage-september-2026/

X rolled out its Cashtag Partner Program in the US, letting users tap any stock, ETF, or crypto ticker to trade through Gemini, Kraken, and Coinbase. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/x-cashtag-partner-program-crypto-trading-gemini-kraken-coinbase-september-2026/

The CLARITY Act fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate after negotiations over ethics rules broke down, stalling crypto's market-structure bill. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/clarity-act-fails-senate-60-votes-ethics-rules-september-2026/

Solana raised its maximum transaction size from 1,232 to 4,096 bytes in a mainnet upgrade, giving developers more room per transaction for complex on-chain actions. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/solana-triples-max-transaction-size-mainnet-upgrade-september-2026/

Ethiopia has slashed electricity supply to its Bitcoin mining industry by 75%, according to Bloomberg, upending one of the world's fastest-growing mining hubs. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethiopia-cuts-power-bitcoin-mining-three-quarters-september-2026/