Singapore-based DBS Bank, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, has entered into a partnership with The Sandbox – A blockchain-based gaming world. In doing so, it has now announced its venture into the Metaverse.
DBS is Singapore’s first bank to venture into the Metaverse. The bank has suggested that it would keep looking for other Web 3.0 opportunities for its customer base.
Called the DBS BetterWorld, the joint Metaverse venture aims to showcase the importance of building “a better, more sustainable world.” DBS aims to leverage the project to highlight prevailing ESG concerns to its users.
It was only in October 2021 that DBS Vickers, the bank’s brokerage arm, announced that it had received formal approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to provide digital payment token (crypto assets) services.
Metaverse project with a focus on ESG concerns
“Our partnership with The Sandbox and Animoca Brands marks the start of an exciting collaboration as we push the boundaries of what is possible in the metaverse. We also look forward to harnessing it as an additional innovative platform to spread the word on important ESG issues and to shine a spotlight on communities and partners doing good work to address them,” said Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS.
Sebastian Paredes, CEO of DBS Hong Kong, added,
“With today’s partnership, we have an excellent opportunity for our young talent to be deeply involved in developing a compelling and meaningful use case in The Sandbox. This also contributes to our ongoing efforts to groom the next generation of tech talent who will eventually lead DBS in tapping new and emerging technologies to usher in the future of banking.”
Under the alliance, DBS will acquire a 3×3 plot of LAND in the Sandbox metaverse and then populate it with interactive and immersive elements.
The DBS BetterWorld will focus on innovative and successful social entrepreneurs as the bank’s ESG concerns are the primary focus of this project. It will also draw upon the inputs provided by government, business, and the community at large so as to enrich the development, understanding, and implementation of different concepts.
Banks entering the Metaverse
It is not the first time that a bank has entered the Metaverse. In February this year, JP Morgan became the first bank in the world to invest in the Metaverse as it set up its shop in the Metajuku mall on Decentraland. Following the Wall Street bank’s steps, HSBC Holdings launched a Metaverse portfolio in early April for its high value clients in Singapore and Hong Kong.
By the end of April, Standard Chartered Bank too had announced its partnership with Sandbox for its Metaverse venture.
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