Behind Mirae Asset Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo's pledge to grow digital assets to 150 trillion won lies the group's next growth strategy, dubbed "Mirae Asset 3.0." The strategy centers on investment that spans both traditional and digital assets. It reflects an intent to diversify investment assets and find new revenue sources by tokenizing existing traditional assets or linking physical assets such as gold to coins. It also reflects a strategy of raising the group's profile by breaking from conventional investment thinking and seeking new approaches.
The core keyword of the growth strategy Park laid out for Digital X at a dinner with employees on the 26th was the convergence of traditional and digital assets. The approach would diversify investment assets by using instruments such as security token offerings (STOs), alongside the stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are the main products for clients of key affiliates Mirae Asset Securities (006800) and Mirae Asset Global Investments. "An era will come when large-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics (005930) or SK hynix (000660) are divided and tokenized, and when physical financial assets such as gold, silver and electricity are digitized," Park said.
Of Digital X, Park said he hoped it would "grow into a global investment platform." Predicting that Big Tech firms will enter the blockchain payments market, he said brokerages "will build agentic wealth management algorithms and offer suggestions on how you should change your portfolio." He added: "You just press OK and the trade is executed that day. We are heading toward a world where private bankers at brokerages have nothing left to sell, and that is new finance."
He placed particular emphasis on real-world assets (RWAs), which merge traditional and digital assets. "They call bitcoin 'digital gold,' but central banks are buying gold too," he said. "If a digital gold coin market of 20 trillion to 30 trillion won takes shape, it will be a tremendous opportunity for investors." He also floated the idea of issuing an "electricity coin" that could capture rising power costs, on the view that electricity prices will climb as artificial intelligence makes power more critical. Park again stressed the importance of STOs. "We have no choice but to do STOs," he said. "If we slice up Samsung Electronics or SK hynix and do an STO, an enormous market will emerge."
Park voiced concern about so-called leveraged coin investing, in which people take on excessive debt to bet everything on cryptocurrencies. The remarks appear to reflect his investment philosophy that digital assets, like traditional ones, require long-term diversified investment. He repeatedly stressed that day that investors should look to a company's future growth potential rather than trade over the short term, saying, "Stocks should be approached the way you approach venture investing." He added: "Almost no one around me has made money on bitcoin. It is close to ruin. And on top of that they take out loans — I do not understand why. No asset should be traded that way."
Instead, he outlined plans to give investors access to a range of opportunities beyond virtual assets. "Mirae Asset invests in many different things around the world, and we will demonstrate to clients who like coins that there are other ways to earn strong returns," he said with a laugh.
On shareholder returns, he said: "If they had paid out large dividends, would Samsung Electronics or SK hynix exist today? A company improves by not paying dividends, and it should be grown boldly through capital accumulation."
Market watchers say Mirae Asset is accelerating its leap toward becoming a full-service investment banking group by merging traditional and digital assets. Behind that is what observers describe as Park's bold decision-making in creating conditions that set the firm apart from other brokerages. Park acquired KDB Daewoo Securities in 2016, securing one of the largest equity capital bases in the country along with brokerage and investment banking capabilities and an overseas network.
The group's aggressive overseas dealmaking also draws praise. Mirae Asset acquired U.S. ETF manager Global X in 2018, establishing a key foothold in the world's largest capital market. The deal was not merely an expansion of sales channels but gave the firm a base from which to create and manage its own ETF products directly in global markets. In 2022, it acquired Australian asset manager ETF Securities and rebranded it as Global X Australia, and in 2023 it took over European ETF market maker GHCO and Australian robo-adviser Stockspot in quick succession. By adding market-making functions that supply liquidity and digital wealth management to its ETF product capabilities, the group has secured, step by step, a global financial investment value chain covering everything from product creation to distribution and management.
