SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

Bhutan's sovereign wealth fund has offloaded over 9,000 BTC mined with surplus hydropower since 2019. The proceeds appear headed for Gelephu Mindfulness City. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bhutan-sold-70-percent-bitcoin-holdings-druk-holding-hydropower-mining-gelephu-2026/

MetaMask Advanced Permissions use ERC-7715 to grant dapps scoped, time-bound access to execute from your wallet without repeated signatures. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/metamask-advanced-permissions-erc-7715-dapps-scoped-time-bound-smart-accounts/

Zerion proactively shut down app.zerion.io and Blockaid blocked the site. Mobile apps and browser extension are unaffected. User funds remain safe. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/zerion-takes-down-web-app-abnormal-activity-blockaid-blocks-frontend-april-2026/

Strategy holds 766,970 BTC and is closing on BlackRock's 784,620 at 10x the pace. Meanwhile, 220+ copycat treasury firms trade below NAV. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/strategy-766970-btc-blackrock-ibit-gap-17000-bitcoin-treasury-race-april-2026/

The HKMA grants its first two stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a Standard Chartered-led venture, after reviewing 36 applications. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/hsbc-standard-chartered-hong-kong-first-stablecoin-licenses-hkma-anchorpoint-april-2026/

Trump-backed WLFI token falls to record lows after the team's defense of its $150M Dolomite lending position failed to reassure holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/wlfi-token-12-percent-drop-all-time-low-dolomite-treasury-buyback-underwater/

Japan Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/japan-cabinet-approves-fiea-amendment-crypto-reclassification/

MSBT pulled in $34 million and 430 BTC on day one, outperforming every previous Morgan Stanley ETF debut. An OCC charter and E*Trade crypto trading are next. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/morgan-stanley-msbt-best-first-day-etf-34-million-occ-charter-etrade-crypto/

Trump-backed WLFI denies any liquidation threat after borrowing $75M against its own token on Dolomite, where pool utilization hit 93% and depositors can't withdraw. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/world-liberty-financial-denies-liquidation-risk-dolomite-93-percent-utilization-wlfi/

Treasury Secretary Bessent and Fed Chair Powell summoned Wall Street CEOs to warn them about Anthropic's Mythos AI model and its unprecedented cyber capabilities. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bessent-powell-wall-street-urgent-meeting-anthropic-mythos-ai-cybersecurity-banks/

US Secret Service, UK NCA, and Canadian police traced $45M in crypto fraud across 30 countries, freezing $12M and contacting 3,000 victims directly. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/operation-atlantic-us-uk-canada-45-million-crypto-fraud-approval-phishing-secret-service/

JPMorgan estimates Q1 2026 crypto inflows dropped sharply to around $11 billion, with Strategy's Bitcoin purchases and VC funding accounting for the bulk. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/jpmorgan-q1-crypto-inflows-11-billion-strategy-vc-concentration-slowdown/

The Seoul Administrative Court overturned the FIU's three-month suspension of Upbit, ruling that KYC rules for small transactions lacked specificity. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/south-korea-court-cancels-upbit-suspension-dunamu-fiu-kyc-regulatory-gaps/

Bithumb filed for provisional asset seizure against users who refused to return 7 BTC from the February payout error that credited 620,000 phantom bitcoins. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bithumb-court-provisional-asset-seizure-7-bitcoin-40-billion-payout-error-unjust-enrichment/

A new CEA report finds that prohibiting stablecoin rewards would add just $2.1 billion in bank loans, undercutting the banking lobby's core argument. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/white-house-cea-stablecoin-yield-ban-bank-deposits-2-1-billion-0-02-percent-lending/

Canary Capital submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a spot PEPE ETF on April 8. The fund would hold PEPE directly with up to 5% in ETH for gas fees. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/canary-capital-pepe-etf-s1-sec-meme-coin-spot-fund-april-2026/

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent published a WSJ op-ed urging Congress to pass the Clarity Act before April ends, calling it essential to US financial leadership. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bessent-wsj-op-ed-clarity-act-congress-crypto-market-structure-april-2026/

Visa launched Intelligent Commerce Connect, letting AI agents make purchases across 150M+ merchants. Stablecoin and x402 protocol integrations deepen the crypto link. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/visa-intelligent-commerce-connect-ai-agents-purchases-stablecoin-x402-april-2026/

The March FOMC minutes reveal growing support for rate increases as oil-driven inflation reaches 3.5%. Bitcoin slips below $71,000 as traders reprice rate expectations. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fed-minutes-rate-hike-risk-war-inflation-bitcoin-crypto-march-2026/

UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, ZKB, BCV, and Sygnum begin testing a regulated CHF stablecoin in a live sandbox throughout 2026. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ubs-six-swiss-banks-chf-stablecoin-sandbox-postfinance-sygnum-raiffeisen-2026/

South Korea's FSC orders real-time reconciliation every 5 minutes, automated kill switches, and monthly audits after Bithumb's 620,000 phantom Bitcoin error. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/south-korea-fsc-5-minute-crypto-balance-checks-kill-switches-bithumb-phantom-bitcoin/

The SEC's FY 2025 enforcement report admits 7 registration and 6 dealer-definition crypto cases caused no investor harm, as Chair Atkins pivots to fraud. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sec-admits-crypto-enforcement-cases-no-investor-benefit-atkins-fy2025-report/

Federal prosecutors told the court that a Supreme Court copyright ruling has no bearing on Roman Storm's criminal charges. A retrial on two counts is set for October. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/doj-rejects-roman-storm-supreme-court-defense-tornado-cash-retrial-october-2026/

Ethereum now hosts $180B in stablecoins, up 150% in three years. Token Terminal projects $1.7 trillion in new stablecoin flows across chains by 2030. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ethereum-stablecoin-supply-180-billion-all-time-high-60-percent-market-share-token-terminal/

FinCEN, FDIC, OCC, and NCUA propose risk-based AML compliance replacing paperwork-first enforcement, with a higher bar for penalties. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fincen-four-agencies-bsa-aml-overhaul-risk-based-compliance-april-2026/