HSBC Enters Metaverse Space through Collaboration with the Sandbox

HSBC Bank announced Wednesday a partnership with The Sandbox, a blockchain gaming platform, to build its presence in the Hong Kong-based company’s metaverse.

Through the partnership, HSBC acquired a plot of LAND, virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, which it will develop to engage, entertain, and connect with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts.

The Sandbox is a virtual world where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences in the Ethereum blockchain. The Sandbox is a subsidiary business owned by Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming developer Animoca Brands.

Suresh Balaji, Chief Marketing Officer, Asia-Pacific, HSBC, highlighted more about the bank’s new venture and stated: “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.”

Besides HSBC, companies such as Gucci, Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, ZEPETO, and CryptoKitties, are also have acquired virtual space on The Sandbox’s metaverse.

Providing Digital Finance for Next-Gen Customer Experience

In December last year, HSBC started using blockchain technology for the first time in the settlement process of cross-border payments. HSBC partnered with Wells Fargo to jointly operate a shared settlement ledger to process US dollar, Canadian dollar, British pound sterling, and Euro transactions.

The move by HSBC and Wells Fargo echoes the rising trend, which says that banks that do not look to implement blockchain and accept crypto more broadly could be hurt over the long term.

HSBC has plans to position itself to be able to transact in new forms of regulated digital currencies, like central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

HSBC, the world’s seventh-largest bank, with assets that total $3 trillion under its management, has become one of the first global banks to embrace the booming metaverse landscape.

Last month, US lender JP Morgan launched a lounge in the blockchain-based virtual world of Decentraland (metaverse) and therefore became the first major bank to do so. Customers can purchase virtual plots of land with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the virtual lounge and make other purchases using crypto coins.

A day ago, American Express, the world’s second-largest payments processor, filed seven trademark applications for metaverse and NFTs items.