Standard Chartered buys virtual plot in The Sandbox to begin metaverse expansion

Standard Chartered is the latest planetary slope to participate the burgeoning metaverse abstraction via a concern betwixt its Hong Kong subsidiary and The Sandbox, according to a press statement released connected April 25.

According to the statement, the slope became the archetypal slope to get “virtual onshore astatine The Sandbox metaverse’s Mega City district.” 

StanChart said the acquisition is geared towards creating a:

“Metaverse acquisition [that] actively engages its clients, partners, staff, and the tech community, to research co-creation opportunities successful this caller and breathtaking space.”

The acquisition was led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Group’s innovation, fintech investment, and ventures arm.

Speaking connected the development, the caput of Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, Alex Manson, said: 

For the past fewer years, we person been gathering concern models successful crypto, integer assets and spot the emergence of the metaverse arsenic a captious milestone successful the Web3.0 evolution.

This presumption was besides echoed by Mary Huen, CEO of the lender’s  Hong Kong unit, who said:

The metaverse is simply a imaginativeness for the adjacent signifier successful the internet’s evolution, bringing caller possibilities and unsocial experiences done the usage of immersive technologies. Our engagement successful the metaverse allows america to reimagine our narration with existing and imaginable clients connected this caller level and our attack to heighten lawsuit journeys.

Major fiscal institutions similar HSBC, JPMorgan, and others person besides made strategical investments into the metaverse. Per a CryptoSlate report, JPMorgan opened a virtual lounge successful the fashionable blockchain-based satellite Decentraland, named “onyx lounge.”

Others similar CitiBank, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs person besides said they judge the metaverse is simply a multi-trillion accidental that needs to beryllium harnessed by the public.