SpendNode Podcast: Crypto News & Analysis

ESMA wants authority to order crypto firms to freeze suspect assets, pull scam websites, and ban misleading ads as part of its MiCA review response. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/esma-stronger-powers-police-crypto-mica-october-2026/

US prosecutors charge a former Georgia banker with routing about $932K in customer funds to Coinbase accounts controlled by co-conspirators for a bribe. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/georgia-banker-charged-932k-fraud-coinbase-october-2026/

RedotPay now lets cardholders connect a Web3 wallet and fund their account in one tap, with no deposit address to copy. Here is what changes for users. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/redotpay-web3-wallet-one-tap-top-up-september-2026/

Bitget published SlowMist's findings on its September 24 breach, pointing to a zero-day in a third-party security product and a custom attacker withdrawal tool. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitget-slowmist-findings-zero-day-third-party-tool-september-2026/

The UK's FCA opened its authorisation gateway on September 30, 2026, letting crypto firms apply to become regulated. Here is what changes for the market. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fca-opens-crypto-authorisation-gateway-september-2026/

Wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC bought more than 41,000 coins in 10 days, per Santiment, lifting whale balances to a six-week high while spot BTC trades near $83,000. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitcoin-whales-accumulate-41k-btc-six-week-high-september-2026/

House Oversight Chair James Comer sent records demands to Crypto.com, Hyperliquid, and PredictIt owner Aristotle Exchange over prediction market insider trading. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/house-oversight-comer-crypto-com-hyperliquid-prediction-market-probe-september-2026/

Illinois published draft rules explaining how its proposed 0.2% digital asset transaction tax would apply to stablecoin transfers, DeFi swaps, and other onchain activity. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/illinois-crypto-tax-rules-defi-stablecoins-september-2026/

Payy's post-mortem pins its September 24 bridge exploit on a flaw in Aztec's Noir/Barretenberg verifier that accepted an invalid burn proof, draining ~1.92M USDC. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/payy-post-mortem-noir-verifier-flaw-1-9m-usdc-september-2026/

SlowMist says suspected North Korean hackers moved stolen Bitget assets through Chainflip and CoW, exposing the cross-chain laundering playbook behind the hack. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/north-korea-hackers-route-bitget-funds-chainflip-cow-september-2026/

Binance Pay now works at PayPay-accepting merchants across Japan, connecting crypto balances to one of the country's largest QR payment networks for retail spending. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/binance-pay-live-paypay-merchants-japan-september-2026/

SEC Chair Paul Atkins told CNBC the agency is proceeding to clarify how to raise money onchain even after the CLARITY Act failed in Congress. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/sec-atkins-onchain-fundraising-clarity-clarity-act-september-2026/

The ECB is inviting fintechs and payment firms to test digital euro features, with 2027 workshops on AI-enabled and machine-to-machine payments. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ecb-digital-euro-testing-fintechs-2027-september-2026/

Tether says it helped authorities freeze nearly $550M in Iran-linked USDT in 2026, showing how centralized stablecoin issuers act as compliance agents. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/tether-freezes-550m-iran-linked-usdt-september-2026/

CleanSpark subsidiary CSDC Finance closed a $2.276B private offering of senior secured notes, one of the largest debt raises tied to a listed Bitcoin miner. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/cleanspark-csdc-2-3b-senior-secured-notes-september-2026/

The UK's FCA secured a confiscation order so victims of a £1.5m crypto investment fraud can recover lost funds, a rare full-restitution outcome in crypto cases. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/fca-secures-restitution-crypto-fraud-victims-september-2026/

The White House publicly blamed Democrats for failing to pass the Crypto Clarity Act, escalating pressure on US crypto market structure legislation. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/white-house-blames-democrats-crypto-clarity-act-september-2026/

Bitget restarted Bitcoin withdrawals at 08:00 UTC on Sept 28 after its Sept 24 security incident, saying the flaw is fixed and user balances are intact. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/bitget-btc-withdrawals-live-phased-resumption-september-2026/

Belarus registered its first-ever crypto banks, requiring accreditation from the National Bank before operations. Here is what the move signals for the region. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/belarus-registers-first-crypto-banks-september-2026/

Ondo Finance opened perpetual trading on tokenized stocks and ETFs, letting traders post holdings as collateral and run the basis trade on one venue. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/ondo-perps-tokenized-stock-perpetuals-24-7-september-2026/

Blockchain.com is reportedly planning a $500M IPO this year at a $4-6B valuation, adding to a wave of crypto infrastructure firms testing public markets. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/blockchain-com-500m-ipo-4-6-billion-valuation-september-2026/

A second suspected memecoin rug factory has surfaced on Robinhood Chain, with GoPlus tracing over $9M in losses as the network's TVL climbs toward $1.5B. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/robinhood-chain-memecoin-rug-factories-9m-september-2026/

RedotPay says an independent Big Four firm signed off on its financials. Here is what a clean audit does and does not tell crypto card holders. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/redotpay-clean-big-four-financial-audit-september-2026/

Chainlink updated its cross-chain bridge infrastructure months after a $292M hack at a rival exposed the risks in moving value between blockchains. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/chainlink-hardens-cross-chain-bridge-292m-exploit-september-2026/

Citigroup, with $2.8 trillion in assets, is teaming up with Coinbase to enable stablecoin payments for institutional clients, a signal that legacy finance now treats stablecoins as settlement rails. Read the full article: https://www.spendnode.io/blog/citigroup-coinbase-stablecoin-payments-institutional-september-2026/