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HSBC is the largest bank in Europe by total assets.

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HSBC on Wednesday announced it will offer custody services for tokenized securities, making the British bank the latest major institution to embrace digital assets.

HSBC is using technology from Swiss crypto custody firm Metaco, which was recently acquired by blockchain startup Ripple, to store bonds and other securities.

In a press release, the bank said that the service would complement its HSBC Orion platform for issuing digital assets, as well as a recently-launched offering for tokenized physical gold.

Metaco will use HSBC’s Harmonize, the bank’s platform for institutions, which “helps unify security and management of digital asset operations,” according to HSBC.

HSBC is the latest institution to embrace digital asset custody, after U.S. banking giant BNY Mellon announced a similar move in 2021.

Tokenized securities are effectively regulated assets, like bonds and equities, in the form of tokens issued on a blockchain.

In turn, a blockchain can be considered a shared ledger on which assets are recorded digitally. The technology served as the foundation upon which bitcoin was built, but its applications in the banking world are very different to those of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

In the case of banks, these institutions are leveraging blockchain for payments, trading, and other purposes, often without a digital token being involved. Banks are finding utility in tokens by digitizing equities, bonds and other assets.

HSBC is “seeing increasing demand for custody and fund administration of digital assets from asset managers and asset owners, as this market continues to evolve,” Zhu Kuang Lee, chief digital, data and innovation officer for securities services at HSBC, said in a statement.

Metaco CEO Adrien Treccani told CNBC via email that the partnership reinforces “continued momentum working with top tier financial institutions.”

“Financial institutions are ready to scale digital assets pilots to real use cases around custody, issuance, trading and settlement of tokenized assets, and in so doing, unlocking economic benefits and new revenue streams.”

It marks another step from HSBC toward embracing digital assets. The bank, which holds about $3 trillion in assets globally, already lets its Hong Kong clients trade in bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds.

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South Korea’s LG Energy Solution signs $4.3 billion battery supply deal with undisclosed party

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South Korea's LG Energy Solution signs .3 billion battery supply deal with undisclosed party

The logo of LG Electronics is seen on the opening day of the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition in Barcelona on January 31, 2023.

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South Korea-based LG Energy Solution announced Wednesday that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract for supplying batteries to a major corporation, without naming the customer.

The effective date of contract — receipt of orders — began Tuesday and will conclude at the end of July, 2030. During this period, the counterparty will not be disclosed to maintain business confidentiality, the company’s filing with the Korea Exchange showed Wednesday. Reuters reported that Tesla was the counterparty.

Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the EV maker was behind a previously undisclosed $16.5 billion chip contract with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. 

LG Energy said in its filing that details of the contract such as the deal amount were subject to change and the contract period could be extended by up to seven years. 

“Investors are advised to carefully consider the possibility of changes or termination of the contract when making investment decisions,” the company cautioned. It’s shares were trading 0.26% lower. 

The filing did not clarify whether the lithium iron phosphate batteries would be used in vehicles or energy storage systems. Its major battery customers include American electric-vehicle makers Tesla and General Motors.

The company has been expanding its battery production in the U.S., and is constructing a plant in Arizona that will produce lithium iron phosphate batteries. 

LG Energy Solution and Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. 

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CyberArk’s stock jumps on report Palo Alto Networks in talks to buy company for over $20 billion

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CyberArk's stock jumps on report Palo Alto Networks in talks to buy company for over  billion

Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, looks on during the closing bell at the Nasdaq Market in New York City, U.S., March 25, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

CyberArk shares soared as much as 18% on Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that cybersecurity provider Palo Alto Networks has held discussions to buy the identity management software maker for over $20 billion.

Cloud security is becoming an increasingly critical piece of the enterprise tech stack, especially as rapid advancements in artificial intelligence bring with them a whole new set of threats, and as ransomware attacks become more commonplace.

Founded in 2005, Palo Alto Networks has emerged in recent years as a consolidator in the cybersecurity industry and has grown into the biggest player in the space by market cap, with a valuation of over $130 billion. CEO Nikesh Arora, who was appointed to the job in 2018, has been on a spending spree, snapping up Protect AI in a deal that closed in July, and in 2023 buying Talon Cyber Security, Dig Security and Zycada Networks.

But CyberArk would represent by far Arora’s biggest bet yet. The Israeli company, which went public in 2014, provides technology that helps companies streamline the process of logging on to applications for employees.

CyberArk faces competition from Microsoft, Okta and IBM‘s HashiCorp. Another rival, SailPoint, returned to the public markets in February.

With Tuesday’s rally, CyberArk shares climbed to a record, surpassing their prior all-time high reached in February. The stock is up 29% this year, pushing the company’s market cap to almost $21 billion, after jumping 52% in 2024. Palo Alto shares, meanwhile, slid 3.5% on the report and are now up about 9% for the year.

Representatives from Palo Alto Networks and CyberArk declined to comment.

During the first quarter, CyberArk generated around $11.5 million in net income on around $318 million in revenue, which was up 43% from a year earlier.

It’s been an active stretch for big deals in the cyber market. Google said in March that it was spending $32 billion on Wiz, its largest acquisition on record by far, and a purchase intended to bolster its cloud business with greater AI security technology.

Networking giant Cisco also made its biggest deal ever in the security space, buying Splunk in 2023 for $28 billion. Splunk’s technology helps businesses monitor and analyze their data to minimize the risk of hacks and resolve technical issues faster.

— CNBC’s Ari Levy contributed to this report

WATCH: Cisco CEO on acquisition of Splunk

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins: $28 billion Splunk deal will be a significant financial growth driver

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Spotify stock falls on revenue miss, lackluster guidance

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Spotify stock falls on revenue miss, lackluster guidance

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Spotify shares dropped about 4% Tuesday after the music streaming platform fell short of Wall Street’s expectations and posted weak guidance for the current quarter.

Here’s how the company did versus LSEG estimates:

  • Loss: Loss of .42 euros vs earnings of 1.90 euros per share expected
  • Revenue: 4.19 billion euros vs. 4.26 billion expected

The Sweden-based music platform’s revenues rose 10% from about 3.81 billion euros in the year-ago period. The company posted a net loss of 86 million euros, or a loss of .42 euros per share, down from net income of 225 million euros, or 1.10 euros per share a year ago.

Third-quarter guidance came up short of Wall Street’s forecast.

The company expects revenues to reach 4.2 billion euros, compared to a 4.47 billion euro estimate from StreetAccount. Spotify said the forecast accounts for a 490-basis-point headwind due to foreign exchange rates.

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Monthly active users on the platform jumped 11% to 696 million, while paying subscribers rose 12% from a year ago to 276 million.

For the current quarter, Spotify said it expects to reach 710 million monthly active users, with 14 million net adds. The company expects 5 million net new premium subscribers in the third quarter to reach 281 million subscriptions.

During the period, Spotify said it rolled out a request feature for its artificial intelligence DJ. The company said engagement with the offering has roughly doubled over the last year.

In 2024, Spotify posted its first full year of profitability. Shares are up 57% this year.

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