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No distancing now though because Steven Carroll is very close to me here on the other side of the set. The value of Bitcoin slumping, Stephen. Uh this is after an exchange in Hong Kong was hacked. That's right. And some $65 million worth of Bitcoin have been stolen from the Bitfinex exchange. That's almost $120,000 units of the digital currency.
The Hong Kong exchange was one of the biggest trading platforms for US dollar transactions in Bitcoin over the past month. Bitfinex has now halted trading in all digital currencies while it investigates the security breach. But the value of Bitcoin has taken a thumping. It's down by 10% since yesterday according to CoinDesk.
For many, the leak will bring back bad memories of the coll collapse of the Mount Gots Mount Gaus exchange in 2014. That saw prices plummet by 30%. Going to talk about European banks now on the program. Been having a pretty bad uh week so far. Steven's got some raw results out today and we'll start with HSBC.
Its profits fell by 29% in the first half of the year because of volatility on the markets fueled by China's economic slowdown and Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The slowdown was even sharper in the 3 months to the end of June when pre-tax profits fell by 45% to 3.6 billion. There was better news for France associated general.
The bank's profits in the second quarter beat expectations rising 8% to just under 1.5 billion. But that figure was boosted by the sale of its stake in Visa rather than an increase in revenues. Low interest rates hit earnings at it re at its retail banking division in France but profits fell by 5%. Good news too for Greece's embattled banks.
The ratings agency standard and pores has upgraded its assessment of Alphab Bank, Euro Bank, the National Bank of Greece and Pereus Bank. S&P now classes them as triple C plus instead of selective default. That's still far from investment grade though. This coming after Greece partly relaxed the capital controls it imposed more than a year ago.
How the markets reacting to all that then Stephen? European shares starting the day in the green. Uh good news for investors and sociator general anyway their shares up by almost 4% in Paris after their results. Credit Agricult also publishing results that beat expectations. its shares up by 3% in Paris and in London.
HSBC also up by more than 3% despite reporting that fall in profits. Over in Asia, Hong Kong back in business today after being closed yesterday because of the typhoon, but it's trading down about 1 and a.5%. We've also seen more falls on the Japanese markets. This is as investors react to the stimulus plan announced by the Japanese government yesterday.
The nicay in Tokyo down by almost 1.9% at the close. Let's talk about the Olympics once again. Now here on the program, the merchandise uh we're going to talk about. We are doing the business news. It's already flying off the shelves in Rio, isn't it? Yeah. The merchandise course is a big earner not only for the organizers of the Olympics, but also for retailers who've obtained permission to make t-shirts and other products emlazed with the logo.
Brazilian authorities have been cracking down on the sale of counterfeit versions of the products. As Josh Vardy now reports, Brazilian Sun see an Olympicsiz business. This hanger of official merchandise spread out over 1,800 m houses everything Rio 2016 related from t-shirts to key rings to sandals.
Over 3,000 different products with a stream of eager customers to buy them. 20,000 people are expected to pass through here every day. You have to really go for it when you're inside. So, it's really cool to wear the Olympic logo. Yeah, especially for when we're back in France. We can show that we were there.
The official mascot toys draw a lot of attention, but at €30 each, they're a bit too pricey for many. I love them. They're so cute. I would really love to get some for my grandchildren, but I can't. They're too expensive. Rio de Janeiro expects 500,000 visitors over the next 3 weeks and local businesses hope to make big profits.
The police along with the Olympic Committee have come down hard on counterfeits which are now rarely seen in the streets. This wholesaler is one of three authorized to print and sell official Olympic merchandise. We won the tender which means we have to pay a cut to the Olympics committee on every item sold.
But then we pay ourselves with the profits. While 12% of every sale is given to the owners of the Rio 2016 brand, this seller is making 40% of his annual sales in just 3 weeks. This retails for €9. It costs €3 to make. While the city of Rio itself will see little of this money, it's hoping the brand will help to further boost tourism by giving it a global platform.
Now, they're finally the makers of the mobile game Pokémon Go. talking about that once again. They're facing legal action though in the United States. Quite funny this actually. Hugely popular mobile game uh sees users try to catch virtual monsters in real life locations, but that's causing problems for some property owners in the United States.
One of them has filed a case against developer Niantic, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company over people trespassing on his property looking for Pokémon. Now, the resident of New Jersey says that at least five people knocked on his door asking if they could get into his back garden to play the game. The man is seeking class action status uh for his legal case for all of those uh who've been affected uh by playing the game like that.
Having people turn your door saying, "Sorry, would you mind? Exactly. I found I found a Pikachu in your back." Coming when they're not welcome. Luckily.
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