Anthropic’s Claude Code, an AI-driven coding agent that autonomously reads, writes and executes software instructions from a user’s terminal or browser interface, is accelerating change across the software development industry and unsettling traditional players in legacy computing and cybersecurity. The tool, which has transitioned from research preview to widespread adoption in developer communities, now integrates security scanning and parallel agent workflows that can handle complex development […]
Storm-related travel bans, widespread flight cancellations and severe blizzard conditions have thrown daily life into disarray across large swathes of the northeastern United States, disrupting transportation networks and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Authorities in major cities including New York enforced bans on non-essential road travel, while some states declared states of emergency as heavy snow and fierce winds battered the densely populated East Coast. New […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai JTI has secured its Global Top Employer certification for 2026, marking another year of recognition for its workforce policies and signalling steady gains in employee engagement, leadership development and workplace culture across its international operations. The tobacco and nicotine products group, which operates in more than 70 markets, said the renewed certification reflects year-on-year improvements in areas ranging from talent acquisition and career […]
North Korean state-backed hackers are exploiting global technology recruitment channels to plant malware, siphon intellectual property and generate covert revenue, according to multiple cyber security investigations tracking activity since 2022. The operations combine fake IT worker identities with booby-trapped job interviews, turning routine hiring processes into attack vectors aimed at software developers and technology firms. Security analysts say the campaigns form part of a broader strategy by […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 February 2026 – Esperanza Fintech (Securities) Limited (“Esperanza Securities“, or “Company“) announced today that, following the granting of the formal permission on its tokenized investment business by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (“SFC“) on 13 February 2026, the Company is introducing an innovative financing and community engagement model for the live entertainment industry.
The tokenized investment model enables Esperanza Securities to issue investment tokens (also known as security tokens) through an investment fund it manages, allowing eligible investors to participate with a significantly lower entry barrier and trade the tokens in secondary markets.
Against the emerging tokenized real-world-asset (RWA) trend worldwide, Esperanza Securities is among the first platforms with a systematic focus on the live entertainment industry. Following the granting of the permission by the SFC, two upcoming tokenized entertainment investments will include the Chris Wong 40th Anniversary Concert which will take place in Hong Kong on 6 to 7 March 2026 and a Korean boy band concert which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 11 April 2026.
Innovation beyond technology: a focus on product structure
Entertainment industry assets have long benefited from a clear business model and income structure, which include box office receipts, sponsorships and merchandise revenue. Through tokenization, Esperanza Securities offers a new path for asset owners such as concert organizers to access capital without altering their operational models, while enabling investors to directly participate in opportunities linked to real economic activities.
The application of the tokenized investment model spans beyond the live entertainment industry. In fact, opportunities with clear business models and easily valuated underlying assets possess immense potential for tokenization. For instance, cultural and experiential projects with clear community monetization models and assets with stable and predictable cash flows, such as commercial properties, can all benefit from tokenization.
Bridging global investors to Asian assets through a 24×7 platform
Through the proprietary platform, espetopia.com (“Platform“), Esperanza Securities enables eligible investors to back real economy linked Asian projects, anytime and anywhere, without geographical limitations.
Eligible investors from all over the world can access all investment-related information, trade investment tokens and redeem utilities and experiences associated with the underlying assets through the Platform. This infrastructure enhances the visibility of Asian opportunities in global markets and effectively pools global capital to fund real economic developments, across verticals from cultural intellectual properties to the broader experience economies.
Looking ahead: charting a digital financing path for high-quality real assets
Looking forward, Esperanza Securities will continue to advance its asset-backed tokenized investment model under a prudent and compliant framework. The Company aims to progressively build a sustainable digital investment ecosystem centered on real assets with clear economic foundations.
As market acceptance of RWA digitization continues to grow, the Company sees promising potential for asset-backed tokenization to become an integral financing option alongside traditional public listings and private placements.
Hashtag: #EsperanzaFintech
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Esperanza Fintech (Securities) Limited
Esperanza Securities is a licensed corporation under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap 571 of the law of Hong Kong) with permission to carry out Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities. On 13 February 2026, Esperanza Securities received a “no further comment” letter from the SFC in relation to its proposal to tokenize managed funds, effectively granting formal permission for Esperanza Securities to conduct tokenized investment businesses.
About Esperanza Fintech Group
Esperanza Fintech Group is a fintech group headquartered in Hong Kong. The group’s licensed businesses include (i) gold trading and tokenized gold services operated by Esperanza Fintech (Commodities) Limited, a DPMS (dealers in precious metals and stones) Category A Registrant (No. A-B-25-03-08913) with the Hong Kong Customs with permitted businesses including the issuance, redemption and trading of gold backed instruments on www.espetopia.com; (ii) client asset custodian service operated by Esperanza Fintech (Nominees) Limited, a licensed Trust or Company Service Provider in Hong Kong (Licence No. TC010260), regulated by the Hong Kong Companies Registry; and (iii) tokenized investment services operated by Esperanza Securities, an SFC-regulated asset manager with permission to carry out tokenized investment businesses.
Blockchain ventures built around sport are moving beyond fan tokens towards real-time, onchain markets tied directly to match-day outcomes, marking a new phase for what has become known as SportFi. Developers and investors say the model aims to deepen fan engagement by allowing supporters to trade digital assets linked to specific games, player performances and season milestones, while settling transactions transparently on public blockchains. Proponents argue that […]
A research team at Korea University has unveiled a prosthetic hand that can detach from a wearer’s wrist and crawl across surfaces to retrieve objects, marking a striking advance in modular assistive robotics. The 256-gram device combines gripping capability with independent locomotion and is controlled wirelessly through muscle signals, offering a glimpse of how future prosthetics could move beyond the limits of the human arm. Developed by […]
Sony Interactive Entertainment is closing Bluepoint Games, the Texas-based developer known for high-profile remakes and its work on God of War Ragnarök, resulting in the loss of around 70 jobs and marking another restructuring move within PlayStation Studios. The decision brings to an end a studio widely regarded for reviving classic titles for modern hardware. Bluepoint Games, founded in 2006 and based in Austin, built a reputation […]
Centralised control of artificial intelligence is facing a serious challenge as decentralised networks gather pace, promising to dilute the dominance of technology giants and open development to a broader community of users and developers. For much of the past decade, cutting-edge AI models have been built and deployed by a handful of well-funded companies with access to vast computing infrastructure and proprietary data. Firms such as OpenAI, […]
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have intercepted what they describe as organised, terrorist-linked cyberattacks aimed at government systems and critical national infrastructure, preventing attempts to disrupt essential digital services and infiltrate strategic networks. The UAE Cybersecurity Council said coordinated operations targeted state entities and vital sectors through ransomware deployment, phishing campaigns and network intrusion efforts. Officials characterised the incidents as part of a broader attempt to […]
XRP’s on-chain metrics have shown one of the sharpest capitulation events in its history, with realised losses reaching levels not seen since late 2022, according to multiple on-chain analytics platforms. The weekly tally of realised losses — the measure of holders selling at prices below their original acquisition cost — ballooned to approximately $1.93 billion, signalling heightened fear and broad selling across the market. That peak represents […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai’s Museum of the Future has welcomed more than five million visitors since opening its doors on 22 February 2022, marking a milestone that underscores its growing role as a global platform for innovation, science and cultural dialogue. Situated along Sheikh Zayed Road, the torus-shaped landmark has become one of the city’s most recognisable institutions, blending immersive exhibitions with research-driven initiatives. Officials said […]
Dubai has outlined the next phase of a Dh690 million overhaul of Hessa Street, setting out plans to ease persistent congestion along one of the city’s busiest east–west corridors and shorten daily travel times for thousands of motorists. Officials said the upgraded stretch will introduce additional lanes, new signal-controlled junctions and grade-separated interchanges designed to improve traffic flow between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road. The […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Sharjah has announced architecture as the central focus of the 17th cycle of its Artistic Criticism Research Award, directing scholarly attention to the role of built spaces in Arab visual culture. The Secretariat of the Sharjah Award for Artistic Criticism Research confirmed that the new theme, “Architecture in Arab Visual Arts: Homes and Approaches”, will guide submissions for the upcoming edition. Organisers said […]
Apple is preparing to equip the iPhone with a more visually intelligent assistant as it integrates a new artificial intelligence model, known as Ferret-UI, into the software foundation of iOS 18. The development marks a shift in how Siri may interpret and respond to what appears on a user’s screen, enabling more precise app navigation, icon recognition and contextual understanding. The Ferret-UI model, introduced through Apple’s machine […]
Starbucks Corp’s India venture is accelerating store openings and introducing new menu innovations, including protein foam coffee, as it deepens its bet on the world’s most populous country even while losses widen. Tata Starbucks Pvt., the 50:50 joint venture between Starbucks Corporation and Tata Group, plans to prioritise scale over short-term profitability, according to chief executive Sushant Dash. The strategy underscores a long-term view of India as […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai President Donald Trump has declared an immediate increase of the global tariff rate to 15 per cent, intensifying a high-stakes confrontation over trade policy following a ruling by the United States Supreme Court that he exceeded his authority with earlier broad tariff measures. The move comes as he invoked a different legal framework to maintain pressure on foreign producers and to limit what […]
A new artificial intelligence system developed by Chinese researchers, known as DeepRare, is poised to transform the diagnosis of rare diseases by offering significantly higher accuracy and transparent reasoning than conventional methods. DeepRare, built on a multi-agent architecture incorporating large language models and specialised analytical tools, processes complex clinical information — from free-text symptom descriptions to genetic test results — and generates ranked diagnostic hypotheses paired with […]
DeepSeek has expanded the context capacity of its flagship large language model by a factor of ten and pushed its knowledge cut-off forward to May 2025, sharpening competition in China’s fast-moving artificial intelligence sector as rival Zhipu introduced a new model aimed at enterprise and developer markets. The Hangzhou-based company said the upgrade enables users to process far longer documents and multi-step prompts in a single session, […]
Agentic artificial intelligence is forcing a fundamental reassessment of how enterprise software is sold, bought and priced, with implications for licensing models, cloud economics and the broader SaaS market worldwide. As autonomous AI agents that can plan, execute and optimise complex workflows proliferate across enterprises, traditional per-seat software licensing is coming under pressure, major vendors are redesigning pricing frameworks and investors are recalibrating valuations around AI’s transformative potential.
Industry executives and analysts say that agentic AI – autonomous systems that operate beyond simple generative tasks to perform multi-step functions without constant human direction – is altering the value proposition of enterprise software. Organisations are increasingly demanding pricing that reflects outcome-based performance and consumption rather than fixed seat counts, pushing large software providers to experiment with enterprise licence agreements that bundle AI capacity with predictable costs and shared risk. This shift is expected to reshape cloud economics by altering how revenue and costs are aligned in the era of pervasive AI automation.
The software industry’s long reliance on per-seat or subscription models is facing disruption as AI agents demonstrate the ability to automate work historically done by humans. Gartner forecasts that around 40 per cent of enterprise software applications will feature embedded task-specific AI agents by the end of this year, exponentially up from a fraction only a short time ago. Enterprises are seeking simpler, more transparent pricing arrangements that reflect AI usage and business outcomes, rather than paying for seats that may no longer correspond to human users in traditional roles.
Salesforce and other leading software vendors have moved to reframe their pricing strategies for an agent-centric world. Executives have described new Agentic Enterprise Licence Agreements that offer “all you can eat” access to AI-powered tools and platforms at agreed-upon costs, designed to give customers confidence to scale AI deployments without unpredictable usage charges. These agreements represent a departure from legacy licence structures and a bet that long-term customer engagement will outweigh short-term licence profitability concerns.
Investors are already pricing in uncertainty about how this transition will unfold. Episodes of sharp stock sell-offs in global software equities have highlighted market anxiety about whether traditional enterprise software will maintain its relevance as agentic AI systems gain traction. While some market observers argue that fears of widespread obsolescence are overstated, the volatility reflects genuine debate about how software demand will evolve as autonomous AI agents become more capable of developing, integrating and executing workflows.
The transformation extends beyond pricing into cloud infrastructure economics. AI workloads, particularly those driven by agentic systems, impose heavier and more variable demands on cloud compute and data storage, challenging conventional cost forecasts. Infrastructure expenses tied to training and operating autonomous agents can grow faster than top-line revenue if not carefully managed. Finance teams are rethinking cost allocation, forecasting and real-time billing to provide clearer visibility into consumption by AI agents, a trend that underscores the complexity of cloud economics in an AI era.
Enterprise readiness for agentic AI varies. While adoption continues to expand rapidly, many organisations are cautious about the risks of autonomous decision-making, prioritising data trust, governance and integration challenges. A significant number of leaders report that scaling fully autonomous agents remains an enterprise priority, but that confidence in data integrity and risk controls are the biggest bottlenecks for broad deployment. The interplay between promise and practical reality is shaping cautious but forward-looking strategies.
For software providers, the transition to AI-centric offerings is pushing a broader rethinking of product strategy and business model evolution. Traditional vendors are integrating agentic capabilities into existing platforms, expanding from assistive features to autonomous operations, while newer AI-native firms are building products around AI agents from the ground up. Software incumbents face a dual challenge: reinventing core products to leverage agentic capabilities while maintaining service quality, compliance and continuity for enterprise customers.
Beyond commercial implications, the rise of agentic AI is prompting discussions about its broader impacts on organisational structures, work roles and human-AI collaboration. Proponents argue that autonomous agents can dissolve rigid organisational silos, enhance productivity by taking over repetitive and complex tasks, and free human workers to focus on higher-order decision-making. Skeptics warn of ethical, legal and accountability challenges associated with handing over greater autonomy to AI systems, including liability, bias and governance risks.
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Rolling road closures will be enforced across parts of Abu Dhabi on Sunday afternoon as the UAE Tour concludes with its final stage, prompting authorities to advise motorists to plan ahead and expect delays. Abu Dhabi Police and the Integrated Transport Centre confirmed that temporary traffic diversions will be introduced along key corridors linked to the race route, with closures moving in tandem […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai A strategic partnership signed in Riyadh this week is aimed at transforming veterinary vaccine production in Saudi Arabia through domestic manufacturing and advanced technology transfers, marking a decisive shift in the Kingdom’s approach to animal health and biosecurity. Under the patronage of Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture and chairman of the National Livestock and Fisheries Development Program, Saudi […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi’s real estate market closed 2025 with transactions worth AED142 billion across 42,814 deals, marking the highest annual value on record and underscoring the emirate’s growing weight as a global investment destination. The Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, the sector’s regulator and custodian, said total transaction value rose 44 per cent compared with 2024, while the number of deals climbed 52 per […]
Markets fluctuated sharply on Friday as digital assets and traditional financial instruments digested the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision that struck down former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, triggering a brief rally in bitcoin followed by rapid sell-offs and mixed sentiment among investors. The ruling, handed down by a 6-3 majority, found that the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad tariffs […]
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