SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

BitGo Korea is the first foreign majority-owned firm to secure VASP registration from South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit, opening a tightly guarded market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitgo-korea-first-foreign-vasp-registration-august-2026/

Changpeng Zhao pushed back on Trump's reported plan to bring Hyperliquid to the US, arguing crypto policy cannot be written for a single company or project. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/cz-challenges-trump-hyperliquid-single-company-policy-august-2026/

President Trump says he terminated Operation Choke Point 2, the alleged pressure campaign that cut crypto firms off from US banks. Here is what changes. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/trump-ends-operation-choke-point-2-war-on-crypto-august-2026/

Nexo says it secured a lending authorization in Australia and launched crypto-backed Credit Lines, but its announcement did not identify the regulator, licence number, entity, or scope. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/nexo-lending-license-australia-credit-lines-august-2026/

A sharp market reversal wiped out $1.74 billion in bearish bets, the second-biggest short squeeze in crypto history, as ETH jumped 17.8% and BTC reclaimed $69K. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-short-liquidations-1-74-billion-second-largest-august-2026/

Kraken's Krak Card is now available to US customers, the exchange said, after issuing nearly 135,000 cards across its earlier markets. Here is what changes for spenders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/kraken-krak-card-us-launch-135000-issued-august-2026/

HSBC and Standard Chartered completed the first live tokenized deposit transaction on Swift's blockchain ledger, per CoinDesk. Here's what it signals for settlement. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/hsbc-standard-chartered-tokenized-deposit-swift-ledger-august-2026/

Ethena has added a $1 billion FalconX facility to back USDe collateral, cutting its reliance on volatile funding rates. Here is what changes for the stablecoin. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethena-usde-falconx-1-billion-facility-august-2026/

Fidelity Digital Assets says Bitcoin's volatility is now lower than roughly 98.5% of all days in its history, with BTC near $64,600 as of August 19, 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-volatility-historic-low-fidelity-august-2026/

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt says he is optimistic the CLARITY Act will pass, with a September 15 cloture vote now the target for the market structure bill. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/clarity-act-cloture-vote-september-15-white-house-bullish-august-2026/

Bitcoin fell 14.2% in Q2 2026 yet institutional ETF holdings rose 7.5%, per CryptoSlate. Banks added, hedge funds trimmed and sovereign holders sat still. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-q2-selloff-banks-bought-hedge-funds-cut-august-2026/

Maya Protocol halted its cross-chain network after an attacker chained six separate bugs to drain $1.7M, exposing how compounding flaws slip past audits. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/maya-protocol-halts-network-1-7m-chained-exploit-august-2026/

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes says he is coming out of retirement to lead Flop Labs, where miners sell compute and AI agents spend $FLOP to run inference. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/arthur-hayes-flop-labs-compute-ai-inference-august-2026/

The FBI has reportedly identified alleged first-wave attackers in the Coldcard hardware wallet theft, per Bitcoin Magazine. What self-custody users should know. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fbi-identifies-coldcard-theft-attackers-august-2026/

Visa is scouting stablecoin settlement partners licensed in the US, UK, Canada and Singapore after Mastercard acquired BVNK, deepening a fight over crypto payment rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/visa-stablecoin-settlement-partners-mastercard-bvnk-august-2026/

Rizon now lets Deel payouts land directly in its US dollar account, spendable on the Visa card. Here is what the payroll integration changes for cardholders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/rizon-deel-payroll-payouts-usd-account-august-2026/

The Ethereum Foundation launched Plataberget on August 17, a public testnet that runs the Glamsterdam fork on August 20 ahead of a Q4 2026 mainnet target. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-glamsterdam-plataberget-testnet-august-2026/

Harmony says it will roll its blockchain back to August 11, reversing more than 109,000 transactions. The plan reopens the debate over what finality means. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/harmony-blockchain-rollback-109000-transactions-august-2026/

Federal prosecutors charge Edward Zimbardi over a $165M crypto Ponzi scheme after his deportation from Fiji. What the case says about custody and fraud risk. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/edward-zimbardi-165m-crypto-ponzi-fiji-deportation-august-2026/

The Blockchain Association wants the SEC to rescind Rules 611 and 610(e), arguing the two-decade-old market structure rules cannot handle tokenized securities. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/blockchain-association-sec-rescind-rules-611-610e-tokenization-august-2026/

Coinbase now lets traders go long or short on all 500 largest US companies in a single perpetual contract, pushing crypto derivatives deeper into stock exposure. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/coinbase-us500-perps-launch-august-2026/

Ether Fi reports its self-custody crypto card has crossed $2B+ in annualized spend, with steady growth since August 2025. What the milestone means for cardholders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ether-fi-2-billion-annualized-card-volume-august-2026/

Ether Fi expanded its on- and off-ramp network to support 30+ new currencies, giving cardholders more local ways to fund and cash out. Here is what changes for users. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ether-fi-adds-30-currencies-on-off-ramps-august-2026/

Austria's FMA fined Bitpanda EUR 70,000 in the country's first published MiCA enforcement case, a signal that EU regulators are moving from guidance to penalties. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitpanda-mica-enforcement-austria-70000-fine-august-2026/

Goldman Sachs calls a September Fed rate hike very unlikely, citing soft retail sales, cooling inflation and weak jobs data. Here's what it means for Bitcoin at $63,281. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/goldman-sachs-september-fed-rate-hike-unlikely-bitcoin-august-2026/