Mika Kuusisto steps down as ENCE CEO after seven years, signaling broader esports financial strain

Mika Kuusisto, the long-serving CEO of Finnish esports organization ENCE, resigned on June 15 after nearly seven years at the helm. Rather than hiring a replacement, ENCE is eliminating the CEO role entirely and distributing leadership across three people.

Kuusisto, who goes by the handle miqaqu, announced his departure in a series of posts on X. He had been steering ENCE since November 2018, a period that saw the organization cement its reputation as one of Finland’s most recognizable esports brands, particularly in Counter-Strike.

Going forward, ENCE’s operations will be split among three people. Joona “natu” Leppanen takes on brand and marketing. Samuli Kaikkonen handles partnerships. Eemeli Ikonen oversees esports operations.

ENCE’s crypto connection: Coinmotion and jersey logos

Back in 2021, the organization partnered with Coinmotion, a Finnish cryptocurrency exchange, in a deal that put Coinmotion’s branding on ENCE jerseys. The partnership was framed as an effort to promote crypto awareness among ENCE’s fanbase.

ENCE hasn’t launched a token. There’s no NFT collection. No blockchain-based fan engagement platform. No on-chain ticketing experiment. Nothing.

The Coinmotion partnership arrived during the 2021 bull market, when crypto sponsorships in esports were flowing freely. FTX had its name on TSM. Crypto.com was everywhere. Coinbase was sponsoring tournaments. Most of those deals have since evaporated or been renegotiated downward as the sponsorship landscape contracted alongside crypto prices.

What this means for crypto-esports investors

Sponsorship money from crypto firms has dried up significantly since the 2021-2022 peak. Organizations that built revenue models around those partnerships are now exposed. ENCE, having kept its crypto involvement relatively shallow, may actually be better positioned than peers who went deeper and are now dealing with the fallout of collapsed or reduced deals.

For investors evaluating crypto projects with esports partnerships, the lesson is straightforward. Jersey logos don’t equal integration. A partnership announcement from three years ago doesn’t mean there’s ongoing revenue or user acquisition happening today. Due diligence means checking whether the deal is still active, still funded, and still generating measurable results.

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