SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

A South Korean court has suspended a six-month sanction against Bithumb, letting the exchange keep onboarding new users while it fights the regulator. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bithumb-south-korea-suspension-lifted-court-may-2026/

The US Department of Labor is proposing regulations that could let 401(k) plans hold more alternative assets, a category that has long included crypto debates. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/dol-401k-alternative-investments-rule-may-2026/

Tom Lee's Bitmine added 162,088 ETH to its validator stack, lifting total staked ether to a fresh high as the company keeps pulling supply off exchanges. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitmine-stakes-162088-eth-366m-tom-lee-may-2026/

SBI Holdings says it has entered formal discussions to make Bitbank a subsidiary, a deal that would consolidate two of Japan's largest crypto exchanges. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sbi-holdings-bitbank-acquisition-talks-japan-may-2026/

BTC squeezed shorts above $77K but absent spot demand and low long leverage are capping the move. Why this rally lacks the fuel for a sustained breakout. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-77k-surge-shorts-squeezed-spot-leverage-cap-may-2026/

Bhutan's state mining program shifted roughly $287M of BTC as Bitcoin reclaimed $77,000, extending a quiet but persistent sovereign sell pattern. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bhutan-government-sells-287m-bitcoin-april-2026/

Tether Investments has pitched a three-way merger of Twenty One Capital, Bitcoin payments firm Strike, and miner Elektron Energy, consolidating its BTC empire. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-twenty-one-capital-strike-elektron-merger-april-2026/

Gemini just secured a CFTC Derivatives Clearing Organization license, letting the exchange clear its own regulated perps and prediction market contracts. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/gemini-cftc-dco-license-prediction-markets-perps-april-2026/

Anchorage Digital, the only federally chartered US crypto bank, partners with stablecoin platform M0 to power the next wave of regulated dollar tokens. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/anchorage-digital-m0-regulated-stablecoin-partnership-april-2026/

xStocks, the Backed Finance tokenized equities platform, has gone live on BNB Chain with more than 50 US stocks tradable onchain alongside its Solana deployment. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/xstocks-bnb-chain-50-tokenized-us-stocks-april-2026/

US banking groups are pressing Congress to delay stablecoin rulemaking while Agora pushes ahead with a federal charter application of its own. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/banks-slow-stablecoin-law-agora-charter-april-2026/

Canada's $195B AIMCo pension fund disclosed a $219M position in Strategy, its first ever Bitcoin-linked exposure, according to BitcoinNews. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/alberta-pension-fund-strategy-219m-first-bitcoin-bet-april-2026/

The US has seized close to $500M in Iranian crypto assets under Operation Economic Fury, marking the largest disclosed action against Tehran's onchain flows. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/us-seizes-500m-iran-crypto-operation-economic-fury-april-2026/

MARA Holdings is acquiring Long Ridge Energy for $1.5 billion to power an AI data center buildout, marking the bitcoin miner's biggest move beyond mining. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/mara-holdings-long-ridge-energy-15b-ai-data-center-april-2026/

Japan Exchange Group CEO Hiromi Yamaji says JPX wants to list spot BTC and ETH ETFs as early as 2027, citing the success of US products. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/jpx-japan-bitcoin-ethereum-etf-2027-april-2026/

Rakuten Pay opened XRP conversion for 44 million users, putting a $23B loyalty network on rails that reach 5 million Japanese merchant locations. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/rakuten-pay-xrp-loyalty-points-44m-users-april-2026/

Wasabi Protocol lost roughly $5 million after an attacker took control of the deployer admin key and drained contracts across three chains. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wasabi-protocol-5m-deployer-key-exploit-april-2026/

Shinhan Card, one of South Korea's largest card issuers, is testing stablecoin payments on the Solana testnet, signaling Korea's deepest card-rail crypto experiment yet. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/shinhan-card-stablecoin-solana-testnet-pilot-april-2026/

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou says Malaysia's Securities Commission removed the exchange from its alert list after months of formal engagement and policy discussions. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bybit-malaysia-watchlist-removed-ben-zhou-april-2026/

FBI, Dubai Police, and Chinese authorities dismantled nine crypto scam centers in a joint sweep, while European police separately arrested ten suspects. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fbi-dubai-china-crypto-scam-centers-dismantled-april-2026/

Ripple is deploying its institutional custody stack inside Kbank, Korea's first internet-only bank, to power digital asset wallet services for clients. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ripple-kbank-korea-custody-institutional-wallet-april-2026/

World Liberty Financial begins voting on a proposal to unlock 62.3B previously frozen WLFI tokens via staggered vesting plus a 4.5B insider burn. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/world-liberty-financial-62-billion-token-unlock-vote-april-2026/

FTC settles with Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky for $10M and a permanent industry ban, sharply down from the original $4.7B judgment. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/mashinsky-celsius-ftc-10m-settlement-industry-ban-april-2026/

Steak 'n Shake reports Bitcoin payments cost roughly half what credit card processing does, the first concrete merchant data on Lightning savings. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/steak-n-shake-bitcoin-50-percent-processing-fees-april-2026/

Jerome Powell tells reporters he will remain a Federal Reserve governor after his chair term ends May 15, keeping a seat at the policy table under Warsh. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/powell-stays-fed-governor-may-15-chair-end-april-2026/