Project Dunbar is jointly led by the BIS Innovation Hub, the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the South African Reserve Bank

The digital push will enable HSBC to engage with sports, e-sports and gaming fans via its slice of turf in The Sandbox, a virtual space majority-owned by Animoca Brands

Other investors include Hong Kong's Huobi Ventures as well as Shima Capital, Malaysia's OKX Blockdream Ventures, Mechanism Capital and Morningstar Ventures

The unit said it is looking to invest in technology startups in Web3, gaming and fintech – especially those in the metaverse, NFT, blockchain and e-sports

Russia is facing a barrage of sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. Governments are concerned it may use cryptocurrencies to evade them

Sotheby's has already sold NFTs, the ubiquitous digital objects that are linked to pieces of art or other items, for millions of dollars over the past year

Applicants include Henan, Fujian and Heilongjiang provinces, and the cities of Guangzhou, Chongqing, Fuzhou and Xiamen, state-backed financial outlet Securities Times reported

The collaboration will enable R3 to offer its distributed ledger platform and confidential computing platforms to Hong Kong fintech start-ups

Official says city would continue to be gateway between the Mainland and international markets, as well as a bridge for international capital

But this is not just a game - he is earning cryptocurrency to support his family in suburban Manila during the coronavirus pandemic

The company said it would invest 500 million rupees ($6.6 million) in the centre and hire more than 100 engineers with expertise in blockchain

“We’re making significant investments ... that will pay off in the long term,” she said, referring to the metaverse, and signalling a short-term slowdown