Carbon Neutral Partnership
In an announcement Friday, DBS Group Holdings revealed a partnership with blockchain-based metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, a part of Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands. The collaboration will create DBS BetterWorld, an interactive Metaverse experience that will strive to show the importance of building a better, more sustainable world, and inviting others to come alongside, further developing DBS’ intention to explore new opportunities that Web3 has for its customer base and business in general.
For the environmentalist reading this, the partnership with The Sandbox also signifies DBS will buy carbon offsets, meaning land and production on DBS BetterWorld will be carbon neutral. The bank will, in addition, look for opportunities to showcase DBS BetterWorld with LiveBetter, a one-stop digital platform that the DBS set up last year to promote more eco-conscious living among its customer base.
It will also take the opportunity to use the platform to profile social entrepreneurs in Asia who have been driving positive impact through innovative business models while cooperating with partners from the government, business and technology sectors in order to develop ideas to improve the DBS BetterWorld experience.
The partnership means DBS will acquire a 3×3 plot of LAND — or a unit of virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse — which will be developed with immersive elements.
DBS is one of the leading financial services groups in Asia, with a presence in 18 markets, and has a growing presence in Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Since 2014, DBS and the DBS Foundation have helped over 800 social enterprises across the region scale their businesses and awarded over S$10 million in grants to close to 100 social enterprises.
DBS BetterWorld
According to Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS, the metaverse technology, while still evolving, could also fundamentally change the way banks interact with customers and communities.
While continuing: “Given the speed of change, experimenting and learning-by-doing enable us to best test the potential of various technologies.”
Gupta also said that over the last decade, the biggest changes in the world of finance have been catalyzed by digital advancements and that in the coming decade, driven by new technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, these shifts have the potential to be even more profound.
“DBS BetterWorld will be an additional platform for the bank to share about important environmental, social or governance (ESG) issues and shine a spotlight on communities and partners that are addressing them,” the bank’s CEO added.
SingaporeVerse
The Sandbox said it welcomes DBS as the first bank in Singapore to step into the open metaverse and join their efforts to create the SingaporeVerse, a neighbourhood on its virtual map that will bring the culture of the country to life in the metaverse.
Sebastien Borget, Co-founder and CCO of The Sandbox, said about the partnership: “ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues are important to us, and we look forward to collaborating on an experience that invites our audience to make a positive global impact, to discover the creative possibilities of our platform, and maybe to find their next life-changing opportunity in the metaverse.”
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