HSBC Buys Virtual Real Estate in Sandbox Metaverse

HSBC is the first global bank to enter The Sandbox metaverse, joining a swath of other big brands including Warner Music Group, Gucci and Adidas

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share
  • ”The metaverse is how people will experience Web3 [and] the next generation of the Internet,” HSBC’s Suresh Balaji said
  • Rival megabank JPMorgan unveiled a virtual lounge last month in blockchain-based world Decentraland

Financial services provider HSBC said Wednesday it will acquire a piece of virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse.

The purchase is a part of a larger partnership with The Sandbox to engage with sports, esports and gaming fans, according to the bank’s announcement.

“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,” Suresh Balaji, chief marketing officer at HSBC Asia-Pacific, said in a statement. Further details on the plot were not disclosed.

HSBC joins a laundry list of big-name brands and companies that have partnered with the blockchain gaming firm, including Warner Music Group, Gucci and Adidas. 

“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,” Sebastien Borget, chief operating officer and co-founder of The Sandbox, said in a statement. 

The partnership, The Sandbox US CEO Mathieu Nouzareth said, signals the “rapid maturation” of the metaverse, and other financial institutions will likely follow suit.

“As metaverse adoption expands further into the mainstream, we’re only going to see a broader spectrum of brands investing in the metaverse to create digital-first experiences that engage both new and existing customers,” Nouzareth told Blockworks.

Last month, megabank JPMorgan unveiled a virtual lounge in blockchain-based world Decentraland. 

“When you think about the economics of the metaverse — or metanomics — there are opportunities in almost every market area.” the bank wrote in a note. “We are not here to suggest the metaverse, as we know it today, will take over all human interactions, but rather, to explore the many exciting opportunities it presents for consumers and brands alike.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

The march toward an interoperable and onchain-by-default internet depends on reliable messaging and value transfer across heterogeneous domains. Crosschain protocols now process >$1.3T in combined annual transfer volume and secure tens of millions of user interactions, yet no single design dominates.

article-image

Partnership deal centers USDC inside safe’s smart-account stack, tightening rails from onboarding to treasury and DeFi access

article-image

Partnership enables S&P’s stablecoin stability data to flow directly into DeFi systems via Chainlink

by Blockworks /
article-image

Industry executives weigh in on last week’s “stress test” and the importance of stablecoins

article-image

Eigen Labs’ J.T. Rose pitched verifiable off-chain compute with agentic AI coming to Ethereum

article-image

The block appears to have been ongoing for over eight months

article-image

Coinbase and Mastercard’s BVNK bids illustrate how hot the stablecoin acquisition space has become