MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation)

MiCA flipped EU crypto compliance from a grey-zone improvisation into a fully regulated activity. The CASP, EMT and ART hire you need today is materially different from the one that worked in 2022.

Hire MiCA talent Join the talent pool

The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (Regulation EU 2023/1114) is the first comprehensive EU framework for crypto-asset service providers, e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens. It moved EU crypto compliance from an AMLD5-bolted-on grey zone to a fully supervised activity.

For hiring, MiCA created a profile that did not exist 18 months ago: the compliance officer who can author a MiCA white paper, who has lived through a national-competent-authority authorisation, and who can operationalise the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation on chain. KICKFIND screens for that profile against the regulation, not the textbook.

Regulators in scope

ESMAEBAMFSABaFinCySECAMFBanca d'ItaliaCentral Bank of Ireland

Industries most affected

Crypto-asset service providersStablecoin issuers (EMT / ART)Fintech with crypto railsPayment institutionsBanks with custody

What it actually requires

MiCA in practice.

Operational scope - the work a GRC hire actually owns under this framework day to day.

MiCA authorisation workflow - white paper, fitness and propriety, prudential requirements.
EMT and ART regimes if issuing stablecoins, with reserve management and redemption rights.
Cross-border passporting using PSD2-style mechanics applied to crypto rails.
Crypto-native AML typologies on top of AMLD6 - mixers, peel chains, mule networks.
EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (Travel Rule) operationalised in production.
DORA scope coverage - CASPs are in DORA scope from day one.

GRC role families that own it

Who you hire for MiCA.

MiCA touches more than one seat. KICKFIND can run the full hiring loop for any of these.

Hire signals

What KICKFIND screens for.

Concrete proof points we look for in MiCAhires. CV name-drops without specifics don't pass our screen.

Has sat in a national competent authority meeting on a MiCA application.
Has named the Travel Rule vendor they chose and the false-positive rate they hit.
Has on-chain analytics fluency - real opinions on Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Elliptic, Crystal.
Has shipped a CASP authorisation or amendment under the MiCA regime.

Red flags we filter out

What disqualifies a MiCA hire.

Patterns that look right on paper but fail under regulator scrutiny. Caught at intake before any client sees them.

Talks MiCA in slogans without naming a single authorisation workflow they own.
Cannot tell you their on-chain false-positive rate.
Pure banking AML CV pivoting to crypto with no on-chain typology fluency.
Treats DORA as someone else's problem inside the CASP.

Screening questions

How we screen, in practice.

“Walk me through the AML model you stood up for a CASP. What typologies did you tune for, and what was your alert volume after 90 days?”
“How do you handle a sanctions hit on an inbound wallet address that subsequently resolves to a sanctioned mixer?”
“Pick one Travel Rule message format your team has produced. What was the failure mode you hit most often in the first month?”
“Describe a redemption right test you have actually run on an EMT or ART reserve. What was the operational gap?”

Why specialist hiring

Why crypto-native and bank-native hires both miss on MiCA

Pure crypto-native candidates know on-chain analytics but often miss the muscle memory of a regulated AML team. Pure banking AML candidates know the process but miss the on-chain typology layer. MiCA needs both, in the same hire.

KICKFIND has spent the time to map the small bench of EU candidates who have actually shipped a MiCA authorisation - the white paper, the fitness-and-propriety file, the regulator dialogue. Most agencies can shortlist neither.

Travel Rule vendor screening: we ask candidates which tool they picked and what their false-positive rate looked like after 90 days.
On-chain analytics fluency screened against named tools (Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Elliptic, Crystal) - opinion, not list.
We co-screen for DORA scope from day one because every MiCA-authorised CASP is in DORA scope too.

Hire MiCA talent How KICKFIND works

From the MiCA hiring blog.

Product Hiring
MiCA crypto compliance hires: the role that did not exist 18 months ago
MiCA changed everything for crypto-asset service providers in the EU. The compliance hire you need now is different from the one that worked in 2023.

Ready when you are

Hire GRC people who actually understand your regulator.

Submit a structured GRC hiring brief in under 5 minutes. We come back with a calibration call and a real plan, not a sales pitch.

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