MiCA Masters: Technology and Compliance first

Delphine Forma speaks with Patrick Aarikka, Chief Compliance Officer at Kvarn Capital, about building a MiCA-ready crypto firm from the ground up—with a tech-first mindset.

In this episode Patrick shares his experience on the issuance of first MiCA compliant meme coins as well as how Kvarn is embracing automation, agile compliance tooling, and regulatory collaboration to transform compliance into a strategic advantage. He also reflects on working with Finland’s regulator, the transition from VASP to CASP, and the surprisingly complex task of writing an 80+ page MiCA-compliant whitepaper—for a coin that started as a joke.

Key highlights:

• Issuing a MiCA-compliant meme coin under Title II
• Preparing for CASP licensing under Fin-FSA’s high bar
• Lessons from automating compliance controls with dev teams
• Insights on market abuse detection, AML, travel rule, and DORA
• Why Europe may focus next on DeFi—and how firms should brace for it