Key takeaways:
- The largest British bank HSBC has partnered with The Sandbox for its first foray into the metaverse space
- The bank is looking to expand its presence in the metaverse and explore Web3-oriented use cases
- Several prominent traditional financial institutions have recently expanded into Web3 or are actively exploring the space
HSBC sees great potential in Web3 commerce
The second-largest European bank HSBC has partnered with The Sandbox, a leading metaverse project, to explore the potential of Web3 commerce and reach customers in the rapidly growing metaverse.
According to Wednesday’s announcement post, the international financial services provider will acquire a plot of tokenized virtual real-estate in The Sandbox metaverse, which is intended to become a virtual hub for both e-sports and sports fans.
The London-headquartered bank considers the metaverse as a primary gateway to Web3, which will unlock new economic and entertainment opportunities for businesses and users. “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,” remarked HSBC’s CMO Suresh Balaji in a statement.
Global research firm PcW noted in a recent industry report titled Seeing is Believing, that the metaverse market will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2030, a nearly 35-fold increase since 2019, and account for a whopping 1.81% of the global GDP.
COO and Co-founder of The Sandbox Sebastien Borget commented on the importance of a traditional finance behemoth joining the metaverse space:
“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.”
The news of HSBC partnering with The Sandbox comes roughly a month after JPMorgan became the first traditional bank to open a virtual lounge in Decentraland. Like HSBC, JPMorgan is bullish on the metaverse and envisions virtual world economies to grow exponentially over the coming years.
American Express and the New York Stock Exchange have also made their first steps in the Web3 space, having recently filed for their respective crypto-related trademarks, hinting at the possible launch of blockchain-oriented services in the future.
