HSBC, the second-largest banking and financial services provider in Europe, with assets of $3 Trillion, operations in over 70 countries and a network of over 5,100 branches, is the first multinational bank to enter the Metaverse — through a partnership with The Sandbox.
The partnership between The Sandbox and HSBC will have HSBC acquire a plot of land, a virtual real estate in The Sandbox's virtual & Metaverse world, according to a tweet on The Sandbox's Twitter account & blog post which can both be found here & here.
HSBC will be launching a "Sports Zone" on their virtual real estate plot, to be able to connect sports, esports & gaming enthusiasts together. Says The Sandbox.
“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,” says Suresh Balaji, Chief Marketing Officer, Asia-Pacific, HSBC.
“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,” continues Balaji.
“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,” says Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-founder of The Sandbox.
“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,” says Borget.
HSBC will be joining multiple existing partnerships that include: Adidas, Gucci, The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Atari, CryptoKitties, The Smurfs, Care Bears & more.
As of March 16, 2022, HSBC's stock is up by 2.61%. And The Sandbox's cryptocurrency "SAND" is up by 10.39%.