Singapore’s DBS Has Struck A Deal With The Sandbox: Details
- Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has struck a deal with metaverse-focused The Sandbox and the two entities will design an interactive metaverse experience – DBS BetterWorld.
- The bank’s BetterWorld aims to build “a better, more sustainable world, and inviting others to come alongside.”
The largest bank in Singapore, DBS, is now the first such financial institution in the city-state in maritime Southeast Asia to embark upon a journey in the metaverse. As per the official announcement, the bank has confirmed its partnership with The Sandbox, one of the biggest metaverses in the crypto industry, which rose to popularity in 2021.
As per the official announcement, the firm will embark upon its metaverse journey with DBS BetterWorld, which has been described as “an interactive metaverse experience showcasing the importance of building a better, more sustainable world, and inviting others to come alongside.”
While this is the first Singaporean firm to dive into the metaverse, it is also the first bank that has partnered with The Sandbox (SAND) which is a leading decentralised gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands.
Additionally, the release from the bank confirmed that it will acquire a 3×3 plot of LAND in The Sandbox metaverse. LAND is the unit which is equivalent to virtual plot of land in the metaverse which can be used for any number of purposes like opening a virtual store among other things. DBS confirmed that the LAND will be utilized and “immersive elements” will be added.
“Metaverse technology, while still evolving, could also fundamentally change the way banks interact with customers and communities. Given the speed of change, experimenting and learning-by-doing enable us to best test the potential of various technologies,”
said Piyush Gupta, the CEO of DBS.
Gupta also pointed out that his bank’s partnership with The Sandbox and Animoca Brands marks the initiation of an “exciting collaboration as we push the boundaries of what is possible in the metaverse.” The CEO of the bank also revealed that eventually the goal is to harness the technology “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.”
According to the announcement, the bank will leverage support from its partners and collaborators that will come from government, community, business, and technology spaces. Recently, DBS had launched a digital platform called LiveBetter and according to the bank, it will use its partnership with The Sandbox and DBS BetterWorld with LiveBetter.
Additionally, the land and production on DBS BetterWorld has been confirmed to be carbon neutral which comes as a relief because recently, metaverse and NFT industry have increasingly been tied to environmental concerns.
Interestingly, the firm behind The Sandbox, Animoca Brands, secured a $110 million funding round, backed by major industry players including Boyu Capital, Temasek, and CGV Capital.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
