HSBC becomes first Global Financial Services Provider to Enter The Sandbox

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.

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).

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, The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, ZEPETO, and CryptoKitties, all following The Sandbox’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds. Details of the HSBC and The Sandbox collaboration will be announced in due course.