HSBC, with almost $3 trillion in assets, is the first global bank to enter The Sandbox metaverse. The bank’s move to buy digital real estate comes on the heels of JPMorgan Chase’s venture into the metaverse last month.
JPMorgan wrote in a report that the metaverse represents a $1 trillion market opportunity in the coming years. Projections from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been even rosier. Goldman said in January that the metaverse could be more like an $8 trillion opportunity. Morgan Stanley followed up in February by saying the metaverse would be worth $8 trillion in China alone.
HSBC, one of the world’s largest international banking and financial services providers, and The Sandbox, today announced a new partnership that will open up a host of opportunities for virtual communities across the world to engage with global financial services providers and sports communities in The Sandbox metaverse.
The groundbreaking partnership between The Sandbox and HSBC will see the global financial services provider acquire a plot of LAND, virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, „which will be developed to engage and connect with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts,” according to the press release.
The agreement opens the door for other global institutions to continue innovating in Web3 as consumer adoption demands more robust experiences in the metaverse through decentralized and gamified offerings.
Metaverse virtual worlds deliver interactive and immersive experiences to users, with many of these platforms built on blockchain technology. The global metaverse market is estimated to grow from $45.4bn in 2019 to a staggering $1.5tn in 2030 (source: PwC | Seeing is Believing).
HSBC Enters The Sandbox Metaverse
Suresh Balaji, Chief Marketing Officer, Asia-Pacific, HSBC, said: “The metaverse is how people will experience Web3, the next generation of the Internet — using immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality. At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox we are making our foray into the metaverse, allowing us to create innovative brand experiences for new and existing customers. We’re excited to be working with our sports partners, brand ambassadors, and Animoca Brands to co-create experiences that are educational, inclusive and accessible.”
Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-founder of The Sandbox, said: “We’re pleased to see large, trusted institutions such as HSBC join The Sandbox open metaverse and embrace the culture of Web3, connecting with users through entertainment, gaming and user-generated content. We believe this is the beginning of a broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.”
As the metaverse’s leading decentralized gaming virtual world, The Sandbox fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space where worlds and brands collide to make magic and create real utility and economy. HSBC joins over 200 existing partnerships including Gucci, Warner Music Group, Ubisoft and Adidas, all following The Sandbox’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds.
The largest investment banks see a great opportunity in metaverse
The bank’s move to buy digital real estate comes on the heels of JPMorgan Chase’s venture into the metaverse last month. The American banking giant created a lounge in another metaverse world, Decentraland, featuring a spiral staircase, a “live” tiger, and an illuminated picture of CEO Jamie Dimon.
So far, HSBC and JPMorgan are the only banks that have announced digital real estate outposts in the metaverse. Each has chosen two different platforms, with different strengths, according to Fortune.
While the Sandbox is more games-focused, Decentraland is more focused on experiences and socializing. The major difference, though, is that Decentraland is up and running, whereas the Sandbox is still beta testing and rolling out updates and developments but is currently open to all.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
