Standard Chartered Bank is the latest big financial institution to enter the metaverse. The bank has acquired “virtual land in the Mega City district of The Sandbox metaverse, a cultural centre based on or inspired by Hong Kong talent.”
Standard Chartered Bank Makes Metaverse Forays
Standard Chartered Bank stated Tuesday that its subsidiary, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK), has teamed with The Sandbox, a famous blockchain-based virtual game platform, to “create a metaverse experience.”
Standard Chartered is a market-leading global bank with around 85,000 people serving customers in nearly 150 countries. It operates 776 branches worldwide.
According to the bank, it is the first to acquire “virtual land in The Sandbox metaverse’s Mega City district, a culture centre based on or inspired by Hong Kong talents.” SC Ventures, the Standard Chartered Group’s innovation, fintech investment, and venture capital arm, is spearheading the programme.
The announcement contains the following information:
SCBHK will engage its clients, partners, employees, and the IT community actively in order to explore co-creation potential in this new and exciting field.
The bank intends to experiment and create new experiences for clients, as well as connect “local sports and art communities to the metaverse,” according to the release.
Alex Manson, managing director of Standard Chartered Ventures, added:
We’ve been developing business models in crypto and digital assets for several years and see the advent of the metaverse as a vital milestone in the Web3.0 growth.
JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Fidelity Investments are among the other large banks and financial services organisations that have entered the metaverse. HSBC also entered the metaverse through a partnership with The Sandbox, while JPMorgan and Fidelity picked Decentraland.
The metaverse is likely to expand dramatically in the next years. Citi forecast last month that the metaverse might be a $13 trillion opportunity by 2030, with 5 billion users. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, two of the world’s largest investment firms, estimate that the metaverse represents a $8 trillion opportunity.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
