The Helsinki-based company received a license from Finland.
Crypto Asset Management Fuiret Tesseract secures the market for Crypto-Assets Regulation (MICA) licenses from Finland’s Financial Supervisory Authority and provides a regulated and managed yield service service through the Defi protocol.
Tesseract’s MICA license allows Helsinki-based companies to provide portfolio management, custody and asset transfer to both retail and institutional investors, according to a press release shared with Defiant.
Regarding investment thresholds, Tesseract Group CEO James Harris said in a commentary on Defiant that retailers don’t have a minimum. For the corporate Treasury Department, deposits usually start at around $1 million. The company says the license makes it the first regulated European entity “to provide a return-generating service through active portfolio management across the Defi protocol.”
According to its website, Tesseract manages over $500 million in managed assets and offers a $20 million yield on 15 crypto assets.
Strategies combination
Tesseract’s managed Defi products spread investments in agriculture, lending, staking, liquidity provision and arbitration of the reviewed Defi protocol, with teams managing risk and adjusting allocations to accommodate market changes.
When asked how Tesseract would decide which Defi protocols or strategies to include in its managed Defi portfolio, Harris did not provide a detailed explanation.
“We maintain a strict portfolio and risk management framework, actively monitoring asset allocation and market events. Our managed Defi products use a diverse combination of proactively managed strategies aimed at optimizing risk-to-reward ratios for high levels of transparency,” Harris said.
Navigate ambiguity
MICA, Crypto’s radical EU regulatory framework, sets EU-wide requirements and regulations clarity for Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPS), which came into full force in December 2024 and is operating in the region.
Tether has decided not to pursue MICA compliance yet, which requires restrictions such as keeping reserves in European banks. However, other companies are developing cloud-compliant products like Eurøp Stablecoin, but their adoption remains behind their US dollar-backed rivals.
Mica and defi
MICA primarily regulates centralized entities, but its application to DEFI is less clear. The rules exclude services “provided in a completely decentralized way in the middle,” but the definition of “fully decentralized” remains vague. As Rune Christensen, co-founder of Makerdao, proposed in the X Post in April 2024, under MICA, “it will allow for a fully distributed, local, downloaded frontend or full KYC online frontend.”
In fact, Tesseract is sticking to “Strict AML/KYC compliance,” noting that products that generate their controlled yields are closer to centralized exchange than strictly negative platforms.
Regarding managing smart contracts and counterparty risk, Tesseract’s Harris explained that he is investing in facility-grade compliance and risk management, including CASP registration and ISO27001/SOC2 certification.
He emphasized that Tesseract protects client assets by insulated by thorough credit due diligence, collateral requirements based on borrower valuations, and placing funds in completely separate corporations, allowing each client’s holdings to be isolated from the company’s balance sheet and other clients. On the Defi side, the team “designs and monitors assignments, performs stress testing and dashboards, and provides transparent monthly reporting and proof.”
Founded in 2018, Tesseract raised $25 million in 2021 in a Series A funding round led by Augmentum Fintech, winning participation from Coinbase Ventures, WinterMute, Woorton and others.