Tell us about your educational and professional journey leading up to founding Mobilum a regulated crypto payments platform.<\/strong><\/p>\nI started in tech entrepreneurship in Poland in the early 1990s, right as the country was opening up. Over 30 years I built and scaled businesses across payments, fintech, and digital infrastructure. I earned my ACAMS Certified Crypto asset Specialist designation along the way. Mobilum was a natural evolution \u2013 combining my payments experience with the emerging crypto ecosystem.<\/p>\n
You are an early believer and adopter of BTC.\u00a0 How did you become aware of BTC and tell us about Mobilum.<\/strong><\/p>\nI discovered Bitcoin in 2014 and immediately saw the gap there was no easy way for holders to convert back to fiat. So, I set up Mobilum initially as an off-ramp for BTC users. From there it grew into a full plug-and-play fiat-to-crypto platform, serving exchanges, wallets, and DeFi protocols with scalable on- and off-ramp solutions.<\/p>\n
Tell us about BTCS a crypto treasury company and how you became the CSO of this company.<\/strong><\/p>\nBTCS (formerly Vakomtek) was a NewConnect-listed Polish tech company that we pivoted into Europe\u2019s first dedicated Digital Asset Treasury Company. As CSO, I shaped the strategy: Bitcoin as the anchor treasury asset, with yield generation through CoreDAO validator operations, staking, and tokenized RWAs. The market responded \u2013 we saw a tenfold increase in market cap following the pivot.<\/p>\n
For an investor what are the benefits of buying the stock of a crypto treasury company vs\u00a0 investing in shares of a crypto ETF?<\/strong><\/p>\nAn ETF gives you passive, index-like exposure. A treasury company gives you active exposure management is working to grow the BTC-per-share ratio through yield strategies, validator income, and strategic capital allocation. You\u2019re buying operational upside, not just price tracking. Plus, treasury companies can leverage equity markets to accumulate assets in ways an ETF structurally cannot.<\/p>\n
As of late 2025\u2013early 2026, there are over 150 to nearly 200 publicly traded companies holding digital assets in their corporate treasuries, holding over $100 billion in crypto combined. Led by MicroStrategy, these companies\u2014including miners, tech firms, and investment vehicles\u2014have rapidly adopted Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana for their treasury management.\u00a0 You have been vocal about the consolidation of crypto treasury firms. Tell us why?<\/strong><\/p>\nMost of these 150-200 companies holding crypto on their balance sheets have no real operational thesis \u2013 they bought Bitcoin and called it a strategy. That\u2019s not sustainable. The market will consolidate around firms that generate actual yield on their holdings, have regulatory standing, and offer institutional-grade infrastructure. Passive holders will either be acquired, pivot, or fade. The winners will be those combining treasury management with real infrastructure \u2013 staking, validator operations, lending, tokenization.<\/p>\n
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In 2026, the tokenization of the world financial market is rapidly advancing through stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which function as programmable, on-chain cash for settling digital assets. Stablecoins enable fast, 24\/7 cross-border transactions and tokenized asset collateralization, while wholesale CBDCs are emerging to provide secure, final settlement in interbank markets.\u00a0 What are the factors supporting fast tokenization of the world financial markets?<\/strong><\/p>\nThree forces are converging: regulatory clarity (MiCA in Europe, evolving frameworks globally), infrastructure maturity (stablecoins at $307B prove on-chain settlement works at scale), and institutional demand (banks and asset managers want 24\/7, programmable, composable assets). Add falling interest rates driving search for yield, and you have every incentive aligned for rapid tokenization.<\/p>\n
The world financial sector is tokenizing under two different approaches stablecoin vs CBDC what are the benefits to either approach?<\/strong><\/p>\nStablecoins are market-driven, fast, composable, and already at scale \u2013 they work today for cross-border payments and DeFi collateral. CBDCs offer sovereign backing and settlement finality, which matters for interbank and wholesale markets. I see them coexisting: stablecoins for retail and commercial flows, wholesale CBDCs for institutional settlement. The key is interoperability between the two layers.<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s (EU) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation is widely considered the world\u2019s first comprehensive, pan-European regulatory framework for digital assets that was approved in 2023 and fully active by early 2025.\u00a0 It provides a unified rulebook for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and issuers across all 27 EU countries with a deadline of\u00a0 July 1, 2026 which ends the 18-month \u201cgrandfathering\u201d transitional period for CASPs.\u00a0 Does MiCA apply to crypto treasury companies and crypto payments platforms?<\/strong><\/p>\nYes, but differently. A crypto payments platform like Mobilum falls squarely under CASP licensing requirements. A pure treasury company holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet is less directly regulated under MiCA \u2013 it\u2019s more of a corporate treasury decision than a regulated crypto service. However, the moment a treasury company offers services to third parties \u2013 custody, exchange, staking-as-a-service \u2013 MiCA kicks in fully. The July 2026 grandfathering deadline is the hard line.<\/p>\n
What are the challenges of MiCA implementation across the 27 EU countries for crypto treasury companies and crypto payments platforms?<\/strong><\/p>\nFragmented transposition across 27 member states is the biggest headache. National competent authorities interpret requirements differently \u2013 capital adequacy calculations, substance requirements, fit-and-proper assessments all vary. For a company operating across borders, you\u2019re dealing with one regulation but effectively 27 implementations. Add DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) on top, and the compliance burden is significant, especially for smaller firms.<\/p>\n
Are there areas of regulatory uncertainty in MiCA implementation across the 27 EU countries for crypto treasury companies and crypto payments platforms and how are firms adapting in real time?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe biggest grey areas are around DeFi (MiCA largely doesn\u2019t address it), NFT classification, and how exactly staking services are categorized. For treasury companies, the treatment of Bitcoin as a reserve asset under prudential rules remains unclear. Firms are adapting by over-engineering compliance, applying for licenses in multiple jurisdictions, building modular compliance stacks, and maintaining close dialogue with regulators. At Mobilum Group we work across multiple EU licenses precisely to manage this uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Anything else you would like to add?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe next 18 months will define who the real players are in European crypto infrastructure. MiCA is not a barrier it\u2019s a moat for those who are ready. We\u2019re building for a world where Bitcoin banking, tokenized assets, and regulated stablecoin infrastructure converge. That\u2019s what Mobilum Group and BTCS are positioned for.<\/p>\n
Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA is an international digital\u00a0asset legal <\/em>expert and author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally.\u00a0 Her writings are translated into 45 languages and republished in over 200 global publications.\u00a0 She is recognized as an expert media\/TV commentator on global digital asset regulation, tax, and technology matters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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