JP Morgan Purchases a Lounge in the Decentraland Metaverse

JP Morgan, the largest bank in the US, has become the first bank ever to enter the metaverse. The bank has purchased a lounge in Decentraland. JP Morgan also published a paper on how institutions can capitalize on the metaverse.

JP Morgan Becomes the First Bank to Enter the Metaverse

US’s largest bank JP Morgan has confirmed the purchase of a metaverse lounge in Decentraland. The bank is now the first financial institution globally to enter the crypto sphere through the metaverse.

The Onyx Lounge (JP Morgan’s) resides in Metajuku, a virtual iteration of Tokyo’s Harajuku shopping district. A tiger wanders on the first floor with a picture of the CEO Jamie Dimon hanging on the wall. A winding staircase leads to the second floor, where an investor avatar can watch experts discuss cryptocurrencies.

Additionally, it has published a paper on how institutional investors can explore the metaverse’s business opportunities. The bank believes that the metaverse market can generate about $1T annually.

Christine Joy, the head of Crypto and the metaverse at JP Morgan, said they made the paper to narrow things down for their investors. It explains the current reality, future technology, financial infrastructure, identity management, and labor needed to manage the metaverse reality.

JP Morgan’s Take On the Metaverse

With a broad acceptance of what the crypto space offers, the world has welcomed NFTs and other innovations like the metaverse. This invention is now attracting institutional investors as it offers a chance to create a new reality where things will be done virtually and remotely.

In the paper, JP Morgan concludes that the average price of virtual land has more than doubled in value from H2 2021. The price skyrocketed from $6K Last June to around $12k in December across the four major sites: The Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium Space.

Per the bank’s report, the metaverse could start witnessing services akin to the real world like mortgages, credits, and rental contracts. It also noted that Defi collateral management is the most probable way the metaverse will be governed rather than through traditional financial systems.

Institutional Crypto Adoption via the Metaverse Increases

With analysts believing that the potential in the metaverse is limitless, numerous institutional investors have joined the bandwagon. Most have purchased virtual land in the metaverse, while some have confirmed building their iterations. 

By now, big companies like Nike, Meta, PwC, Samsung, Adidas, and Microsoft have confirmed plans to invest in the metaverse. Nike eyes the metaverse to tokenize its products and even acquired RTFKT studios last year to build their metaverse. A PwC branch in Hong Kong also purchased virtual land in the Sandbox metaverse last year.

Meta, Apple, and  Microsoft are among the institutions that plan to build their iterations of the metaverse. Meta already has one and has even reported their first revenue. Microsoft also completed a mega acquisition of Activision studios to create a metaverse that includes gaming. Additionally, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has also confirmed exploring the metaverse for business opportunities.

Since the technology is still young, it is good to keep researching it before investing. However, the above developments show that it might be here to stay.