Banking giant HSBC files trademarks for a wide range of digital currency and metaverse products

Banking giant HSBC has filed trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a wide range of digital currency products and services, including those related to metavers and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

HSBC trademark applications for crypto-currency related products and services.

HSBC has filed two crypto-currency-related trademark applications for its name and logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Mike Kondoudis, a trademark attorney and USPTO licensee, noted in a tweet Friday that HSBC’s trademark applications indicate that the bank plans a number of digital products and services, including those related to the exchange and transfer of virtual currencies.

#HSBC has filed trademark applications for its name and logo. The applications indicate plans for:

▶️ Digital media backed by NFTs
▶️ Virtual currency exchange + transfer
▶️ Virtual credit card processing
…and more!#NFTs #Metaverse #Cryptocurrency #Blockchain #Crypto pic.twitter.com/RK1yegoYIh

– Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) December 23, 2022

HSBC’s crypto-currency-related trademark applications were filed on Dec. 15; their serial numbers are 97718803 and 97718583. The bank describes a wide range of products and services in its applications, including sending, receiving, converting and storing digital currencies.

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The trademark applications also detail several metaverse-related goods and services, such as “Facilitating secure payment transactions by electronic means in the metaverse“, “providing banking services in the metaverse” and “provide virtual credit card, virtual debit card, virtual prepaid card and virtual payment card transaction processing in the metaverse“. HSBC also included a number of NFT services, such as “downloadable digital files authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFT)“.

HSBC joined the metaverse by partnering with virtual blockchain gaming platform The Sandbox in March. However, HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn said in September that crypto was not in the bank’s future.

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A growing number of major companies and financial services institutions have filed trademark applications covering a wide range of digital currency and metaverse products and services. For example, Visa, Paypal and Western Union filed trademark applications related to crypto-currencies in October. Last month, JPMorgan Chase obtained a wallet mark covering various payment and virtual currency services.