E-commerce and trade

Bitcoin and Ethereum gains face new crypto tax under Dutch law

Dutch lawmakers have approved a new tax law that will impose a 36% levy on actual investment returns, including both realised and unrealised gains from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The law, called the Actual Return in Box 3 Act, takes effect on 1 January 2028 and applies annually, meaning investors will owe tax even if assets are not sold.

Real estate and startup shares are exempt from mark-to-market taxation, raising concern among crypto investors. Critics say taxing paper gains may force investors to sell assets or consider moving to more favourable jurisdictions.

The government defended the measure as essential to prevent significant revenue losses.

The legislation includes some relief measures, such as a tax-free annual return for small savers and unlimited loss carry-forward above certain thresholds, allowing investors to offset downturns against future gains.

Despite these provisions, many crypto advocates argue that taxing unrealised gains remains problematic.

Crypto adoption in the Netherlands is growing rapidly. Indirect holdings by Dutch companies, institutions, and households reached $1.42 billion by October 2025, up from $96 million in 2020.

Officials say the long-term goal is to move towards a realised gains model, but annual taxation of paper gains is currently seen as necessary to safeguard public finances.

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Shein faces formal proceedings under EU Digital Services Act

The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Shein under the Digital Services Act over addictive design and illegal product risks. The move follows preliminary reviews of company reports and responses to information requests. Officials said the decision does not prejudge the outcome.

Investigators will review safeguards to prevent illegal products being sold in the European Union, including items that could amount to child sexual abuse material, such as child-like sex dolls. Authorities will also assess how the platform detects and removes unlawful goods offered by third-party sellers.

The Commission will examine risks linked to platform design, including engagement-based rewards that may encourage excessive use. Officials will assess whether adequate measures are in place to limit potential harm to users’ well-being and ensure effective consumer protection online.

Transparency obligations under the DSA are another focal point. Platforms must clearly disclose the main parameters of their recommender systems and provide at least one easily accessible option that is not based on profiling. The Commission will assess whether Shein meets these requirements.

Coimisiún na Meán, the Digital Services Coordinator of Ireland, will assist the investigation as Ireland is Shein’s EU base. The Commission may seek more information or adopt interim measures if needed. Proceedings run alongside consumer protection action and product safety enforcement.

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New Mastercard Move integration powers Ericsson fintech platform

Ericsson and Mastercard will integrate Mastercard Move into the Ericsson Fintech Platform to expand digital wallets and cross-border transfers. The partnership targets telecom operators, banks, and fintechs seeking to launch new payment services and reach underserved communities.

By combining Ericsson’s cloud-native fintech infrastructure with Mastercard Move’s money transfer network, the companies aim to simplify integration, deployment, and compliance. The integration is designed to reduce operational complexity and accelerate time-to-market for digital payment services.

Mastercard Move supports transfers in over 200 countries and territories and enables transactions in 150 currencies. Ericsson’s fintech platform operates in 22 countries, serving more than 120 million users and processing over 4 billion transactions per month.

The companies said the collaboration is intended to create new revenue streams and strengthen digital ecosystems in both emerging and developed markets. A global rollout will begin in the Middle East and Africa, where demand for mobile money and interoperable payment systems continues to grow.

Executives said the partnership will support faster, more secure cross-border transfers and promote financial inclusion. The integration aims to help telecom providers and financial institutions scale digital payment services and expand access to the digital economy.

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Gabon imposes indefinite social media shutdown over national security concerns

Gabon’s media regulator, the High Authority for Communication (HAC), has announced a nationwide open-ended suspension of social media, citing online content that it says is fueling tensions and undermining social cohesion. In a statement, the HAC framed the move as a response to material it described as defamatory or hateful and, in some cases, a threat to national security, telling telecom operators and internet service providers to block access to major platforms.

The regulator pointed to what it called a rise in coordinated cyberbullying and the unauthorised sharing of personal data, saying existing moderation measures were not working and that the shutdown was necessary to stop violations of Gabon’s 2016 Communications Code.

The announcement arrives amid mounting labour pressure. Teachers began a high-profile strike in December 2025 over pay, status and working conditions, and the dispute has become one of the most visible signs of broader public-sector discontent. At the same time, the economic stakes are significant: Gabon had an estimated 850,000 active social media users in late 2025 (around a third of the population), and platforms are widely used for marketing and small-business sales.

Why does it matter?

Governments increasingly treat social media suspensions as a rapid-response tool for ‘public order’, but they also reshape information access, civic debate and commerce, especially in countries where mobile apps are a primary channel for news and income. The current announcement comes at a politically sensitive moment, since Gabon has a precedent here: during the 2023 election period, authorities shut down internet access, citing the need to counter calls for violence and misinformation. Gabon is still in transition after the August 2023 coup, and President Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the takeover, won the subsequent presidential election by a landslide in 2025, consolidating power while facing rising expectations for reform and stability.

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Mistral AI expands European footprint with acquisition of Koyeb

Mistral AI has strengthened its position in Europe’s AI sector through the acquisition of Koyeb. The deal forms part of its strategy to build end-to-end capacity for deploying advanced AI systems across European infrastructure.

The company has been expanding beyond model development into large-scale computing. It is currently building new data centre facilities, including a primary site in France and a €1.2 billion facility in Sweden, both aimed at supporting high-performance AI workloads.

The acquisition follows a period of rapid growth for Mistral AI, which reached a valuation of €11.7 billion after investment from ASML. French public support has also played a role in accelerating its commercial and research progress.

Mistral AI now positions itself as a potential European technology champion, seeking to combine model development, compute infrastructure and deployment tools into a fully integrated AI ecosystem.

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Rising DRAM prices push memory to the centre of AI strategy

The cost of running AI systems is shifting towards memory rather than compute, as the price of DRAM has risen sharply over the past year. Efficient memory orchestration is now becoming a critical factor in keeping inference costs under control, particularly for large-scale deployments.

Analysts such as Doug O’Laughlin and Val Bercovici of Weka note that prompt caching is turning into a complex field.

Anthropic has expanded its caching guidance for Claude, with detailed tiers that determine how long data remains hot and how much can be saved through careful planning. The structure enables significant efficiency gains, though each additional token can displace previously cached content.

The growing complexity reflects a broader shift in AI architecture. Memory is being treated as a valuable and scarce resource, with optimisation required at multiple layers of the stack.

Startups such as Tensormesh are already working on cache optimisation tools, while hyperscalers are examining how best to balance DRAM and high-bandwidth memory across their data centres.

Better orchestration should reduce the number of tokens required for queries, and models are becoming more efficient at processing those tokens. As costs fall, applications that are currently uneconomical may become commercially viable.

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China boosts AI leadership with major model launches ahead of Lunar New Year

Leading Chinese AI developers have unveiled a series of advanced models ahead of the Lunar New Year, strengthening the country’s position in the global AI sector.

Major firms such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Zhipu AI introduced new systems designed to support more sophisticated agents, faster workflows and broader multimedia understanding.

Industry observers also expect an imminent release from DeepSeek, whose previous model disrupted global markets last year.

Alibaba’s Qwen 3.5 model provides improved multilingual support across text, images and video while enabling rapid AI agent deployment instead of slower generation pipelines.

ByteDance followed up with updates to its Doubao chatbot and the second version of its image-to-video tool, SeeDance, which has drawn copyright concerns from the Motion Picture Association due to the ease with which users can recreate protected material.

Zhipu AI expanded the landscape further with GLM-5, an open-source model built for long-context reasoning, coding tasks, and multi-step planning. The company highlighted the model’s reliance on Huawei hardware as part of China’s efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor resilience.

Meanwhile, excitement continues to build for DeepSeek’s fourth-generation system, expected to follow the widespread adoption and market turbulence associated with its V3 model.

Authorities across parts of Europe have restricted the use of DeepSeek models in public institutions because of data security and cybersecurity concerns.

Even so, the rapid pace of development in China suggests intensifying competition in the design of agent-focused systems capable of managing complex digital tasks without constant human oversight.

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AI startup raises $100m to predict human behaviour

Artificial intelligence startup Simile has raised $100m to develop a model designed to predict human behaviour in commercial and corporate contexts. The funding round was led by Index Ventures with participation from Bain Capital Ventures and other investors.

The company is building a foundation model trained on interviews, transaction records and behavioural science research. Its AI simulations aim to forecast customer purchases and anticipate questions analysts may raise during earnings calls.

Simile says the technology could offer an alternative to traditional focus groups and market testing. Retail trials have included using the system to guide decisions on product placement and inventory.

Founded by Stanford-affiliated researchers, the startup recently emerged from stealth after months of development. Prominent AI figures, including Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy, joined the funding round as it seeks to scale predictive decision-making tools.

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Tokyo semiconductor profits surge amid AI boom

Major semiconductor companies in Tokyo have reported strong profit growth for the April to December period, buoyed by rising demand for AI related chips. Several firms also raised their full year forecasts as investment in AI infrastructure accelerates.

Kioxia expects net profit to climb sharply for the year ending in March, citing demand from data centres in Tokyo and devices equipped with on device AI. Advantest and Tokyo Electron also upgraded their outlooks, pointing to sustained orders linked to AI applications.

Industry data suggest the global chip market will continue expanding, with World Semiconductor Trade Statistics projecting record revenues in 2026. Growth is being driven largely by spending on AI servers and advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

In Tokyo, Rapidus has reportedly secured significant private investment as it prepares to develop next generation chips. However, not all companies in Japan share the optimism, with Screen Holdings forecasting lower profits due to upfront capacity investments.

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AI governance becomes urgent for mortgage lenders

Mortgage lenders face growing pressure to govern AI as regulatory uncertainty persists across the United States. States and federal authorities continue to contest oversight, but accountability for how AI is used in underwriting, servicing, marketing, and fraud detection already rests with lenders.

Effective AI risk management requires more than policy statements. Mortgage lenders need operational governance that inventories AI tools, documents training data, and assigns accountability for outcomes, including bias monitoring and escalation when AI affects borrower eligibility, pricing, or disclosures.

Vendor risk has become a central exposure. Many technology contracts predate AI scrutiny and lack provisions on audit rights, explainability, and data controls, leaving lenders responsible when third-party models fail regulatory tests or transparency expectations.

Leading US mortgage lenders are using staged deployments, starting with lower-risk use cases such as document processing and fraud detection, while maintaining human oversight for high-impact decisions. Incremental rollouts generate performance and fairness evidence that regulators increasingly expect.

Regulatory pressure is rising as states advance AI rules and federal authorities signal the development of national standards. Even as boundaries are debated, lenders remain accountable, making early governance and disciplined scaling essential.

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