Expanding environmental, social and governance investment and building digital businesses make capitalism sustainable, the research chief of Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday.

“It’s all about quality, not quantity, when it comes to growth in capitalism. ESG offers a fresh perspective, while metaverse makes possible a digital world built on private property and a free market, which is the essence of capitalism,” said Seo Cheol-soo, head of research at South Korea’s largest brokerage.

Seo said blockchain ensures individuality of each player in the digital world and cryptocurrencies help tokenize the platform, adding the popularity of non-fungible tokens, a type of digital asset authenticated by blockchain, will grow, at the Eurasian Economic and Cultural Forum held by The Korea Herald.

In the long run, investors will shift their focus from traditional financial assets to digital assets, because they ensure greater access to the “digital ecosystem,” according to Seo, who warned however that the cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile.

Seo also said tech giants like Google and Facebook would have to fend off challenges from rising tech companies seeking what he described as “decentralization of powers” to take part in writing rules for a new virtual world. 

Meanwhile, Seo called the US Fed’s sooner-than-expected tapering the right move to timely bring down inflation, saying economic activity in Korea is still slow but will pick up speed next year.