One month after HSBC acquired a plot of virtual land in The Sandbox, UK-headquartered Standard Chartered bank announced its first purchase in the same metaverse.
Standard Chartered is part of a cohort of new entrants to the virtual realm, joining the likes of leisure resort, Ocean Park; hotel operator, Regal Hotels Group; and luxury media outlet, Tatler Asia. The new group will form a virtual community in The Sandbox’s Hong Kong-themed Mega City virtual district.
The initiative was led by Standard Chartered’s venture capital arm, SC Ventures.
On the bank’s plans to further foray into the metaverse, Alex Manson, head of SC Ventures, told FinanceAsia, “While we have no immediate plans at the moment, we see no reason why we wouldn’t consider both further engagement with The Sandbox, other metaverses, as well as acquiring virtual real estate elsewhere.”
“Ultimately our overall engagement [with Web 3.0] will be driven by clients, what they would like to see from us and hopefully what we can co-create together,” he added.
The Sandbox is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based game software company and blockchain tech investor, Animoca Brands.
The Sandbox COO, Sebastien Borget, earlier told FA that the firm collects 100% of the purchase price and 5% royalties on any secondary sale of virtual land or NFT assets created within the game. Details of Standard Chartered’s (or the other entrants’) purchase, were not disclosed in the release. Standard Chartered did not respond to requests for comment.
Mary Huen, chief executive for Hong Kong at Standard Chartered, explained in the release that the bank’s decision to enter The Sandbox’s Mega City, was “a natural choice”, given the district’s Hong Kong theme, which “fits with our promise of strengthening our continued presence in Hong Kong, whether physical or virtual.”
Standard Chartered published its first quarter results last week, showing a 9% increase in income (statutory) to $4.29 billion, and a 6% increase pre-tax profit, to $1.49 billion. However, its Wealth Management unit was down $0.1 billion, or 17% at constant currency, with Hong Kong being the most hit, at 26% down.
Other global banks that have entered the metaverse include JP Morgan, which earlier this year set up a virtual lounge in the Decentraland metaverse.
