Hong Kong Banks Announce Additional Support for Tai Po Fire Victims

The post SSP Stock Surges 11% On FY25 Earnings And European Rail Review appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. SSP Group stock rebounded strongly today. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Shares in travel food retailer SSP Group rose sharply today after the company posted solid FY25 results, highlighting good growth in two of its four regional divisions, and a decision to review its under‑performing Continental European rail business. The food and beverage (F&B) company’s stock closed 11.3% up in London on the back of a revenue rise of 7.8% (at constant currency) to £3.6 billion ($4.8 billion) in the 12 months to September. Operating profit jumped by 12.7% to £223 million ($298 million). Under statutory IFRS reporting, however, operating profit fell 58% to £86 million, which SSP said in a statement “reflected £183 million of non‑underlying expenses and impairment charges.” The decision to review its rail business in Continental Europe—the biggest of the F&B giant’s four divisions by revenue at £1,205 million ($1,607 million)—was welcomed by the market, given its weak performance of 2% like-for-like (LFL) growth. A carrot was also dangled— a reward to shareholders arising from the July IPO of SSP’s Indian joint venture Travel Food Services (TFS) with K Hospitality, India’s largest privately held F&B company. SSP Group CEO Patrick Coveney said in a statement: “We acknowledge there is more to do to strengthen our operational performance, most notably in Continental Europe, where we have now reset our team, model, and balance sheet, and have a range of initiatives underway. In addition, we are launching a wide-ranging review of our rail business in Continental Europe. We are also considering options to realise value for our shareholders in line with the delivery of the TFS free float requirement.” SSP currently retains a 50.01% stake in TFS and said: “We believe that India’s market potential, combined with TFS’s attractive…

The post Hong Kong Backs Commercial Bank Tokenized Deposits in 2025 appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. HKMA to support tokenized deposits and regular issuance of digital bonds. SFC drafting licensing framework for trading, custody, and stablecoin issuers. New rules will cover stablecoin issuers, digital asset trading, and custody services. Hong Kong is stepping up its digital finance ambitions with a policy blueprint that places tokenization at the core of banking innovation.  In the 2025 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee outlined measures that will see the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) encourage commercial banks to roll out tokenized deposits and expand the city’s live tokenized-asset transactions. Hong Kong’s Project Ensemble to Drive Tokenized Deposits Lee confirmed that the HKMA will “continue to take forward Project Ensemble, including encouraging commercial banks to introduce tokenised deposits, and promoting live transactions of tokenised assets, such as the settlement of tokenised money market funds with tokenised deposits.” The initiative aims to embed tokenized deposits, bank liabilities represented as blockchain-based tokens, into mainstream financial operations. These deposits could facilitate the settlement of money-market funds and other financial instruments more quickly and efficiently. To ensure a controlled rollout, the HKMA will utilize its regulatory sandbox to enable banks to test tokenized products while enhancing risk management. Tokenized Bonds to Become a Regular Feature Beyond deposits, the government intends to make tokenized bond issuance a permanent element of Hong Kong’s financial markets. After successful pilots, including green bonds, the HKMA will help regularize the issuance process to build deep and liquid markets for digital bonds accessible to both local and international investors. Related: Beijing Blocks State-Owned Firms From Stablecoin Businesses in Hong Kong Hong Kong’s Global Financial Role The policy address also set out a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. Hong Kong is implementing a regime for stablecoin issuers and drafting licensing rules for digital asset trading and custody services. The Securities…

The post Headwind Helps Best Wallet Token appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Google has announced the launch of a new open-source protocol called Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) in partnership with Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, and 60 other organizations. This allows AI agents to make payments on behalf of users using various methods such as real-time bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and, most importantly, stablecoins. Let’s explore in detail what this could mean for the broader cryptocurrency markets, and also highlight a presale crypto (Best Wallet Token) that could explode as a result of this development. Google’s Push for Stablecoins Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) uses digital contracts known as ‘Intent Mandates’ and ‘Verifiable Credentials’ to ensure that AI agents undertake only those payments authorized by the user. Mandates, by the way, are cryptographically signed, tamper-proof digital contracts that act as verifiable proof of a user’s instruction. For example, let’s say you instruct an AI agent to never spend more than $200 in a single transaction. This instruction is written into an Intent Mandate, which serves as a digital contract. Now, whenever the AI agent tries to make a payment, it must present this mandate as proof of authorization, which will then be verified via the AP2 protocol. Alongside this, Google has also launched the A2A x402 extension to accelerate support for the Web3 ecosystem. This production-ready solution enables agent-based crypto payments and will help reshape the growth of cryptocurrency integration within the AP2 protocol. Google’s inclusion of stablecoins in AP2 is a massive vote of confidence in dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies and a huge step toward making them a mainstream payment option. This widens stablecoin usage beyond trading and speculation, positioning them at the center of the consumption economy. The recent enactment of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. gives stablecoins more structure and legal support. Imagine paying for things like data crawls, per-task…