AI & Digital Finance Expansion: Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim backed Ant International’s Kuala Lumpur Global Operations Centre, framing it as job creation and broader digital-payments/fintech capability building. Data Localization Pressure: Nigeria’s Open Access Data Centre says the CBN’s order to host payment data locally is an execution test, not a capacity issue, with compliance due by Jan. 1, 2027. Local Governance vs Compute Growth: Missoula County is weighing a one-year moratorium on new data center applications after concerns over AI sites’ noise, heat and air-quality impacts. Crypto Policy & Infrastructure: Taiwan’s legislature passed a dedicated Virtual Asset Service Act, moving firms to licensing and making the FSC sole regulator, while Open USD stablecoin efforts gathered major banks and tech partners (Visa, Stripe, BlackRock, Google, Coinbase). Bitcoin Market Stress: Bitcoin slid to a 21-month low near $57.7k as ETF outflows and higher rate expectations weighed; Citi cut 12-month forecasts for BTC and ether. Regulatory/Geopolitical Enforcement: Israel Katz sanctioned 37 IRGC-linked crypto wallets, and the US continued targeting crypto-linked sanctions routes. Digital Euro Geopolitics: ECB’s digital euro plan is pitched as both a payments upgrade and a hedge against dollar-centric dependence.