SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

Strategy's 766,970 bitcoin position crossed back above its $75,577 average cost as the price pushed past $76,000, pulling Saylor's stack out of red. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/saylor-strategy-bitcoin-holdings-turn-green-75577-average-cost-april-2026/

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is acquiring CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange Bitnomial in a $550 million cash and stock deal announced April 17. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/kraken-payward-acquires-bitnomial-550-million-derivatives-cftc-april-2026/

Flow Capital plans to tokenize a $150M private credit fund via Singapore's DigiFT to raise additional capital, per a Bloomberg report on April 17, 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/flow-capital-digift-150-million-private-credit-tokenization-april-2026/

Singapore Gulf Bank now lets institutional clients swap US dollars for USDC on Solana at par, with no spread, putting a licensed bank behind Circle's rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/singapore-gulf-bank-usdc-mint-redeem-solana-1-to-1-april-2026/

Tennessee's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act heads to the Senate Finance Committee April 20, 2026, with a 10% allocation cap and air-gapped custody rules. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tennessee-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-act-senate-finance-committee-april-20-2026/

S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs for a second day on Middle East ceasefire talks. SOL, XRP, and BNB led crypto gains while BTC stayed flat. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sp500-nasdaq-record-highs-altcoin-rally-iran-ceasefire-april-2026/

Drift Protocol is relaunching with a Tether-funded recovery pool of roughly $150 million for users hit by the April 1 exploit, and USDT will sit at the center of the rebuilt perp DEX. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/drift-protocol-tether-150-million-recovery-pool-usdt-relaunch-april-2026/

Schwab Crypto launched on April 17, 2026 with direct spot BTC and ETH trading for the largest US brokerage's 36 million accounts. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/charles-schwab-launches-schwab-crypto-spot-bitcoin-ethereum-trading-april-2026/

Powell's Fed chair term expires May 15, 2026. Warsh's confirmation hearing is April 21. The statute is silent on what happens if the vote slips. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/powell-fed-chair-term-expires-may-2026-successor-legal-ambiguity-warsh-confirmation-crypto-markets/

Seoul's Ministry of Economy and Finance approved a sandbox pilot on April 16 that lets ministries pay operating expenses in deposit tokens instead of government cards. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/south-korea-deposit-tokens-government-purchasing-cards-regulatory-sandbox-ev-charging-april-2026/

21Shares' second S-1 amendment for its Hyperliquid ETF plans to stake 30-70% of HYPE holdings and list on Nasdaq under the ticker THYP. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/21shares-hyperliquid-etf-thyp-second-s1-amendment-30-70-percent-staking-nasdaq-april-2026/

CryptoQuant says whale wallets accumulated 270,000 BTC in 30 days, the largest wave since 2013. BTC trades at $74,675 with Fear and Greed at 55. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-whales-270000-btc-30-day-accumulation-cryptoquant-largest-since-2013-april-2026/

Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Elon Musk warning that X Money, which just launched with Visa and a 6% yield, poses consumer, national security, and financial stability risks. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/warren-letter-musk-x-money-crypto-consumer-national-security-financial-stability-risks/

Ripple and Kyobo Life will pilot tokenized settlement of Korean government bonds on Ripple Custody, a first for the KRW sovereign debt market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ripple-kyobo-life-korean-government-bond-tokenization-ripple-custody-april-2026/

A Cato Institute report says daily Bitcoin coffee purchases could generate 70+ pages of US tax filings. The new PARITY Act just dropped the fix. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/cato-bitcoin-coffee-70-pages-tax-documentation-parity-act-de-minimis-april-2026/

Paolo Ardoino spotlighted Bare, Holepunch's cross-platform JavaScript runtime. It already underpins tether.wallet and a new AI SDK aimed at billions of devices. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-bare-javascript-runtime-holepunch-wallet-self-custody-ai-sdk-april-2026/

Crypto Cards Roundup April 15 - MetaMask Adds Solana, Jupiter Confirms EU Launch, Ledger Ships Wallet 4.0 Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/crypto-cards-roundup-april-15-2026/

Kevin Warsh's financial disclosure reveals holdings in Solana, Polymarket, dYdX, Polychain, and more. He must divest before taking the Fed chair. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/kevin-warsh-financial-disclosure-solana-polymarket-dydx-crypto-holdings-fed-chair-nominee-april-2026/

The SEC approved FINRA's plan to replace the pattern day trader rule with risk-based intraday margin, removing the $25K minimum for frequent traders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sec-eliminates-25000-pattern-day-trader-rule-finra-4210-intraday-margin-april-2026/

eToro acquires Zengo's MPC wallet for $70M in mostly cash. The keyless wallet keeps its own product while eToro gains self-custody infrastructure. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/etoro-acquires-zengo-70-million-mpc-wallet-self-custody-keyless-2-million-users/

The State Bank of Pakistan issued Circular 10, allowing banks to open rupee accounts for PVARA-licensed VASPs. The 2018 ban is officially over. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/pakistan-state-bank-circular-10-banks-open-accounts-licensed-crypto-vasps-2018-ban-reversed/

Maine passed LD 307, banning data centers over 20 megawatts through November 2027. At least 12 other states have filed similar moratorium bills in 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/maine-first-state-ban-large-data-centers-20-megawatt-moratorium-bitcoin-mining-2027/

Stablecoin monthly settlement volume hit $7.2 trillion in February, surpassing the ACH network's $6.8 trillion for the first time. Total supply reached $315 billion. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/stablecoins-7-2-trillion-february-surpass-ach-first-time-artemis-315-billion-supply/

Goldman Sachs' proposed Bitcoin ETF would hold shares of spot BTC ETFs and options on those funds, not Bitcoin itself, creating a fee-layered wrapper product. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/goldman-sachs-bitcoin-etf-zero-btc-holdings-fund-of-funds-options-wrapper-april-2026/

A new $1M subsidy program connects Ethereum builders with 20+ audit firms and covers up to 30% of costs through Areta Market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-foundation-1-million-audit-subsidy-program-20-firms-trillion-dollar-security/