British multinational investment bank HSBC has entered into a partnership with NFT gaming metaverse Sandbox. Announcing the same, the blog claims that the new collaboration will help create a host of opportunities for digital communities across the world to engage with global financial services providers and sports communities in The Sandbox metaverse.
The move will enable the global financial giant to 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.
As per the article, the agreement will encourage other global institutions to continue innovating in Web3 to fulfill consumer demands for “robust experiences in the metaverse through decentralized and gamified offerings.” Suresh Balaji, HSBC’s Chief Marketing Officer for the Asia-Pacific region 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.
COO and Co-founder of The Sandbox, Sebastien Borget, feels that the collaboration is the beginning of broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.
HSBC went from critical to fully embraced the digital realm
HSBC joins the list of Sandbox’s over 200 existing major partnerships including Gucci, Warner Music Group, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Steve Aoki, The Smurfs, and CryptoKitties. The blog post further added that details of the HSBC and The Sandbox collaboration would be announced in due course.
It is to be noted that HSBC was initially critical of the blockchain industry. But as the crypto industry evolved, it jumped ship like many other investment firms. From being “No to Bitcoin” in early 2021 to eventually employing a blockchain-based product for enabling foreign exchange transactions, the financial giant has made a huge turnaround.
However, this isn’t the first time that a major bank has dipped its toe in the metaverse space. In mid-February ’22, Wall Street behemoth JP Morgan announced its entry with a virtual lounge in Decentraland.