Etsy shares jumped in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company posted better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter.

Here’s how the company did:

• Revenue: $651.2 million vs. $643 million, according to LSEG
• Loss: Loss per share of 49 cents

The e-commerce company reported a net loss of $52.1 million, or 49 cents per share, due to Etsy taking a $101.7 million impairment charge from the sale of Reverb. Etsy said earlier this month it will sell off the musical instrument marketplace it acquired in 2019 to focus on its core marketplace and Depop, the secondhand marketplace it bought in 2021.

Etsy operates an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers with mostly handcrafted goods. Like many other retailers, the company is digesting the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, though CEO Josh Silverman said in February that the company is “vastly less” dependent on products from China, which was hit by aggressive levies of 145%.

Etsy CFO Lanny Baker said Wednesday that the company is “staying nimble in the face of uncertainty” around the tariff announcements and “the fluid state of consumer confidence in our core markets.”

The company said it also established a “small operational task force” to address the tariffs, which has provided buyers and sellers with guidance on shipping timelines, along with other information. Earlier this month, Etsy began highlighting products from domestic sellers on its site as a way for shoppers to circumvent the extra costs associated with Trump’s tariffs.

Gross merchandise sales, a key metric that measures the total volume of goods sold on the platform, was $2.79 billion, which was in line with consensus estimates according to FactSet.

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Microsoft President Brad Smith says the U.S. tech giant is committed to respecting European laws — even though it may not always agree with them.

“Like every citizen and company, we don’t always agree with every policy of every government. But even when we’ve lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has long respected and complied with European laws,” Smith said in a blog post Wednesday.

Smith’s comments are part of a charm offensive Microsoft is making in Europe this week, after tensions between the United States and European Union ratcheted up in recent weeks over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Trump’s trade war with U.S. trading partners — including the European Union, China and others — has raised fears that the EU could use its regulatory crackdown on America’s technology giants as a tool to counter trade restrictions.

The EU has for years been trying to tame U.S. Big Tech firms over competition issues. The bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which became enforceable last year, aims to tackle the market power of large so-called “gatekeeper” firms such as Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft.

Last week, the European Commission — the executive body of the EU — fined Apple 500 million euros ($568.5 million) and Meta 200 million euros ($227.4 million) for DMA breaches.

“We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the United States and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world. This includes European competition law and the Digital Markets Act, among others,” Smith said Wednesday.

“We’re committed not only to building digital infrastructure for Europe, but to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services.”

Trump has previously cited the EU’s regulatory actions against America’s tech giants as a reason to hit the bloc with tariffs. In February, he threatened the bloc with duties to tackle “overseas extortion” of U.S. tech firms through digital taxes and fines.

LONDON — Britain is at risk of losing budding fintech and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to rival hubs if it doesn’t address pressing regulation and funding challenges, according to industry leaders.

Several crypto bosses told CNBC this week that the U.K. has created an unfavorable environment for fintech and crypto. They argued that the local regulator takes too strict an approach to registering new firms, and that pension funds managing trillions of pounds are too risk-averse

Whereas a decade ago the U.K. was seen as being at “the forefront in terms of promoting competitiveness and innovation,” today things “have shifted more towards prioritizing safety and soundness to an extent where growth has been held behind,” according to Jaidev Janardana, CEO of British digital bank Zopa.

“If I look at the speed of innovation, I do feel that the U.S. is ahead — although they have their own challenges. But look at Singapore, Hong Kong — again, you see much more rapid innovation,” Janardana told CNBC. “I think we are still ahead of the EU, but we can’t remain complacent with that.”

Tim Levene, CEO of venture capital firm Augmentum Fintech, said entrepreneurs face challenges attracting funding in the U.K. and could be tempted to start their founding journeys in other regions, like Asia and the Middle East.

“We’re scrambling around looking for pots of capital in the U.K., where currently it would be more fruitful to go to the Gulf, to go to the U.S., to go to Australia, or elsewhere in Asia, and that that doesn’t feel right,” Levene told CNBC.

Lisa Jacobs, CEO of business lending platform Funding Circle, said that the negative impacts of Brexit are still being felt by the U.K. fintech industry — particularly when it comes to attracting overseas talent.

“I think it is right that we’re paranoid about other locations,” she told CNBC. “It is right that we are trying to — as an industry, as government — make the U.K. still that great place to set up. We have all the ingredients there, because we’ve got the ecosystem, we do have this talent setting up new businesses. But it needs to continue. We can’t rest on our laurels.”

The U.S., for example, has adopted a more pro-crypto stance under President Donald Trump, with the Securities and Exchange Commission dropping several high-profile legal cases against major crypto businesses.

The EU, meanwhile, has led the way when it comes to laying out clear rules for the industry with its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

“The U.S. is driving global tailwinds for the industry,” Craddock said, adding: “MiCA came into force in the EU at the end of last year, while Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE are moving full steam ahead with pro-industry reforms,” she added.

The U.K. on Tuesday laid out draft proposals for regulating crypto firms — however, industry insiders say the devil will be in the detail when it comes to addressing more complex technical issues, such as reserve requirements for stablecoins.

Last year, the watchdog published a roadmap detailing its plan to implement crypto regulation. The roadmap includes a series of discussion papers on topics ranging from stablecoins to crypto lending over the next two years. A full regulatory regime is expected to go live by 2026.

Another issue faced by crypto companies is that of being “debanked” by high street banks, according to Keith Grose, head of U.K. at Coinbase.

“Debanking is a huge issue — you can’t get bank accounts if you’re a company or individual who works in crypto,” Keith Grose, Coinbase’s U.K. head, told CNBC. “You can’t build the future of the financial system here if we don’t have that level playing field.”

A survey by Startup Coalition, Global Digital Finance and the U.K. Cryptoasset Business Council of more than 80 crypto firms published in January found that half were denied bank accounts or had existing ones closed by major banks.

“I think the U.K. will get it right — but there is a risk if you get it wrong that you drive innovation to other markets,” Coinbase’s Grose told CNBC.

“This is such a fast developing space — stablecoins grew 300% last year. They’re already doing more volume than Visa and Mastercard,” he added. “I think if you deliver smart regulation here, stablecoins can be a foundational part of our payment ecosystem in the U.K. going forward.”