Population growth in virtual worlds surpasses that of any nation today, a trend of keen interest to Richard Kim, general partner at Galaxy Interactive, unit of Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Asset Management. Under Kim’s guidance, Galaxy Interactive is the Lewis and Clark of the virtual frontier. “Self-sovereign digital natives,” as Kim refers to them, are people who have partially grown up in virtual environments and/or spend the majority of their spare time in them. Today, they’re mostly younger people, through Web 2.0 platforms like Fortnite and Roblox. The next phase – into the “Metaverse” – is about user empowerment. Kim is also eyeing DAO governance in the world of gaming. It’s still in the experimental phase. But the potential for a community-driven game – where development decisions are made by the people playing it – already marks a major shift from the status quo. Interviewed by Ash Bennington on February 1, 2022.