Hi, I'm Juha.
My perspective comes from working at the intersection of regulation, markets, and infrastructure — where ideas meet real constraints. Much of the conversation around digital assets focuses on technology or speculation, while the harder questions sit in market structure, liquidity, and distribution.
I'm particularly interested in how programmable money reshapes settlement, how tokenisation changes ownership and transfer of assets, and what it takes to move from experimentation to real-world adoption.
Over the past decade, I've worked across digital assets, fintech, and regulated financial services — building products, navigating licensing, and bringing new financial infrastructure into production. Today I'm a senior executive officer at Universal Digital in the UAE, leading USDU — the first USD-stablecoin registered under the UAE Central Bank's Payment Token Services Regulation. Before that I co-founded Membrane Finance, which built EUROe (the first MiCA-regulated euro-stablecoin) and was acquired by Paxos in 2025.
This site is a place to share observations, challenge narratives, and explore where this is all going.
What I'm doing now
- Leading USDU issuance and growth at Universal Digital from the UAE — the first USD-stablecoin registered under the UAE Central Bank's Foreign Payment Token framework.
- Splitting time between Helsinki and Dubai/Abu Dhabi. Two regulatory environments, same fundamental question: how to bring properly regulated money on-chain.
- Getting excited about real estate tokenisation again — the gap between what's technically possible and what's actually shipping has never felt more interesting.
- Sparring with European and UAE teams working at the intersection of tokenisation and payments — where MiCA and the UAE's PTSR model meet in practice. Selective board work.
- Reading: more regulatory documents than I'd like to admit.
What I write and speak about
stablecoins & money
EUROe, USDU, MiCA, the UAE's PTSR framework, on-chain payments, CBDCs vs. private money.
internet of value
Why blockchains matter as infrastructure, not as speculation — and what that means for Europe.
tokenisation
Real-world assets on-chain, real estate tokenisation, DeFi rails, and what's worth building vs. what isn't.
regulation
MiCA in practice, the UAE's PTSR model, supervision — and what it takes to bring regulated money on-chain.
founding
What I've learned about building a company deep inside a regulated space — risk, endurance, and the exit.
advisory
Architecture reviews, regulatory advice, and selective board work for blockchain and fintech companies.
Writing
Long-form essays and notes will collect here. A new chapter is just beginning — space below for the first pieces.
until then, curated interviews are below in the featured coverage section.
In the press
A curated selection of recent interviews and coverage — grouped by theme. Pinned items are marked ★ top. The full chronological archive from 2014–2025 is below in the archive section.
USDU registered as the first Foreign Payment Token. Quoted as Universal Digital's senior executive officer.
★ topInstitutional angle: regulated money infrastructure and the role of UAE banks as anchors.
★ topFor the fintech and payments audience: USDU in the UAE Central Bank's Foreign Payment Token register.
★ topLegal, regulatory, and capital markets audience — reinforces regulatory credibility.
Payments and settlement angle — what PTSR regulation means in practice.
Official acquisition announcement — central role in the transaction as Membrane Finance CEO.
★ topDeal closing and the move to Paxos as Head of EU & Growth.
★ topThe original EUROe milestone: e-money licence and seed funding. Quotes on European reserves and competitiveness.
★ topLong conversation in front of a European fintech audience: EUROe, MiCA, and Europe's place in the stablecoin ecosystem.
★ topA more personal long-form interview — perspectives on stablecoins and the digital euro.
★ topA Nordic startup audience perspective on the exit and the backstory.
For the retail and crypto audience: EUROe as Europe's first fully regulated stablecoin.
Stablecoin in enterprise and data infrastructure: Gaia-X, Polygon Supernets, and settlement tokens.
Membrane Finance and EUROe in the context of DeFi use cases and Finland's instant payments work.
Additional coverage is profiled on the FF News profile page. The full chronological list of domestic and international mentions is below.
Chronological archive
Full listing of interviews, commentary, and mentions from 2014–2025 — plus older blog posts. Heavy on Finnish-language outlets (and most of the older material is in Finnish); the most significant international coverage is grouped above in the featured section.
Older posts kept at their original URLs — each is one click away. Blog entries from 2014–2017 are listed in their own section labelled “old blog”. The posts themselves remain in Finnish; English translations may follow.
Get in touch
Speaking, advisory, board work, press — email is the best channel. Informal messages via LinkedIn are welcome too.