Economy

Crypto Market
Sources: Putting digital currency on hold after pressure

Chinese tech giants are putting their plans to issue so-called stablecoins in Hong Kong on hold after the companies encountered patrols in Beijing, reports the FT.

Alibaba-backed Ant Group and e-commerce giant JD.com announced plans this summer to participate in Hong Kong's pilot program for stablecoins or to issue tokenized bonds, i.e. digital interest-bearing securities backed by the private currencies.

But after calls from Chinese regulators, the parties are choosing not to proceed, sources with insight say. The projects were reportedly seen as a threat to the People's Bank of China's digital currency project, the e-yuan, the newspaper writes.

US-China relations
China accuses US of cyberattacks on authorities

China accuses US of cyberattacks on the country's timekeeping authority, reports Bloomberg.

The country's Ministry of National Security writes on the Chinese social media platform Wechat that the American intelligence service NSA has been exploiting vulnerabilities in employees' mobile phones and stolen login details globally since 2022 to retrieve sensitive information, according to the news agency.

The accusations come after repeated claims by Western governments and companies in recent years that Chinese hackers are behind attacks on their computer systems.

AI and jobs
Study: Thousands of jobs at risk when AI takes over

Around 300,000 white-collar jobs in Sweden could disappear within ten years as a result of AI, according to a new study from the service employers' organization Almega, reports TT.

- Seven percent of jobs could be replaced by AI within a ten-year period, says Almega's chief economist Patrick Joyce.

He also points out that this is not a particularly high figure for the period, and that many old jobs will also change or be replaced by new ones.

The professions that are particularly at risk when AI takes over are in finance and insurance, communications, programming, law and public administration, he points out. 

The tariff crisis  Trump's tariff policy
Professor: The EU did the right thing with the tariffs – winning in the long run

The EU Commission has received massive criticism for the trade agreement with the US – but according to the Institute for Business Research CEO and Professor Fredrik Sjöholm, the union had nothing to gain by responding to Trump's 15 percent tariffs, writes EFN.

- Not fighting back makes you a long-term winner in the trade war, he tells the channel.

A study of Trump's tariffs from 2018 shows that American importers and consumers took the brunt. As importers now replenish stocks, Americans will realize that it has become more expensive, Sjöholm believes.