SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

A 16-person volunteer group scanned 390 Bitcoin repositories with AI and human review, flagging 4,962 issues, 720 rated high or critical, in under 30 hours. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-red-team-5000-security-findings-audit-august-2026/

Bitwise data shows 13 governments hold a combined $26.8B in Bitcoin, with the US in front. What the reserve numbers say about nation-state demand. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/governments-hold-26-8-billion-bitcoin-us-leads-august-2026/

Crypto.com Pay is now accepted at Dubai Duty Free, letting travelers settle purchases with crypto at one of the UAE's largest retail operators. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-com-pay-dubai-duty-free-uae-august-2026/

Nigeria's Revenue Service now requires crypto platforms to withhold 1% on disposals and 10% on staking, mining, airdrops, and DeFi income. Here is what it means. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/nigeria-crypto-tax-withholding-staking-airdrops-august-2026/

The Second Circuit affirmed Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud and conspiracy conviction on August 4, closing his main appellate route and leaving his 25-year sentence intact. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sbf-fraud-conviction-appeal-denied-second-circuit-august-2026/

Ethereum researchers including Justin Drake proposed EIP-8363 to trim validator rewards as the staking ratio approaches 50%. Here is what is at stake for holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-eip-8363-cut-validator-rewards-staking-50-percent-august-2026/

Wells Fargo will launch tokenized deposits this fall, starting with round-the-clock dollar-to-pound transfers for select corporate clients on its own blockchain. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wells-fargo-tokenized-deposits-dollar-pound-transfers-august-2026/

Bybit's Austrian subsidiary secured an e-money license to develop cards, merchant services, and open banking, deepening the exchange race for EU payment rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bybit-austria-emoney-license-eu-payment-cards-august-2026/

BitGo is migrating roughly $7.4B of wrapped Bitcoin off LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, resetting the cross-chain plumbing behind one of crypto's largest BTC tokens. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitgo-migrates-7-4b-wrapped-bitcoin-chainlink-ccip-august-2026/

SpaceX beat Wall Street revenue forecasts but booked a $540M loss tied to its Bitcoin holdings, a reminder of how mark-to-market swings hit corporate crypto. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/spacex-540m-bitcoin-loss-corporate-treasury-august-2026/

Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego crafted a bipartisan ethics compromise to move the CLARITY Act past the 60-vote Senate threshold before the August recess. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/senate-bipartisan-60-votes-clarity-act-august-2026/

US senators are urging the SEC to investigate the Trump meme coin after a 98% drop erased billions and pushed it out of the top 100 altcoins. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/senators-sec-probe-trump-meme-coin-98-percent-collapse-august-2026/

Dinari partnered with Circle to offer tokenized US stock trading to American investors, settling 724 companies onchain in USDC. Details and context here. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/dinari-tokenized-us-stocks-circle-usdc-august-2026/

Western Union, the 175-year-old remittance giant, has launched a Solana-based Stablecard spendable at 175 million Visa merchants. Here is what it means for crypto spending. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/western-union-solana-stablecard-visa-merchants-august-2026/

Italy's largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo slashed its IBIT position by 94% and tripled its staked Ethereum ETF holdings, a sharp rotation from BTC to yield-bearing ETH. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/intesa-sanpaolo-cuts-bitcoin-etf-triples-staked-ethereum-august-2026/

Mastercard completed its $1.8 billion BVNK acquisition on August 4, 2026, buying the stablecoin infrastructure that lets banks and fintechs settle in USDC and USDT. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/mastercard-bvnk-acquisition-stablecoin-august-2026/

Grant Cardone says Cardone Capital is bundling 350 BTC (about $22.3M) into a newly awarded Fort Lauderdale multifamily deal: 350 Class A units plus 350 coins in one purchase. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/grant-cardone-capital-350-btc-purchase-august-2026/

Tyler Williams, the Treasury's top digital asset adviser to Scott Bessent, has left the department during active CLARITY Act talks, per Punchbowl News. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/treasury-digital-asset-adviser-tyler-williams-exits-august-2026/

Apple removed Telegram from its App Store worldwide, cutting off the main channel crypto projects, traders, and TON users rely on. Here's what it means. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/telegram-removed-apple-app-store-august-2026/

An FBI agent is accused of taking about $1 million in crypto from a suspect's accounts, later confessing the theft was 'eating him up inside,' per court filings. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fbi-agent-accused-stealing-crypto-suspect-accounts-august-2026/

Non-custodial swap protocol Boltz paused operations after attackers used AI to find and adapt exploits faster than its small team could patch them. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/boltz-pauses-service-ai-assisted-hacking-august-2026/

Robinhood secured FCA registration to offer crypto services in the UK, opening its trading app to one of Europe's largest retail markets under formal oversight. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/robinhood-fca-registration-uk-crypto-august-2026/

Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $172.4M in July, ending two straight months of withdrawals. BTC still trades at $62,605 as of August 3, 2026, down 4% on the week. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-etfs-reverse-two-month-outflow-172m-july-august-2026/

Coinbase settled its FOIA lawsuit against the SEC for $150,000, surfacing FDIC letters that told ~20 banks to pause crypto in what critics call Choke Point 2.0. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/coinbase-wins-sec-foia-choke-point-lawsuit-august-2026/

JPMorgan has approved HashKey Exchange, Hong Kong's largest licensed crypto venue, to open a client money account, a rare banking nod for a digital-asset platform. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/jpmorgan-approves-hashkey-institutional-accounts-august-2026/