Hendrik Hey and MILC Is Building the Infrastructure Europe Keeps Talking About

Europe talks a lot about digital transformation. Hendrik Hey has spent decades building it. Long before blockchain entered boardroom conversations, he was inside Europe’s media machinery, watching how value moved, where it stalled, and who always ended up losing out when systems grew too complex to change. That experience now sits at the core of MILC, the Luxembourg-based Web3 company he founded, and it explains why his work today reaches far beyond media.

From Explaining Science To Redesigning Systems

Hey’s career did not begin in technology labs or startups. It began with storytelling. In 1996, he launched “Welt der Wunder,” a science and technology television program that became one of the most recognizable educational shows in German-speaking Europe. The appeal was simple. Big ideas were broken down without talking down to the audience. Over time, that clarity built trust, and trust built scale. Hey went on to own and operate national television stations in Germany and Switzerland, giving him a rare view of the industry from creation through distribution.

That understanding exposed structural problems that creativity alone could not fix. Licensing workflows moved slowly. Rights were fragmented across borders. Independent producers carried the risk while platforms absorbed the upside. As digital distribution accelerated, the gap between how content was made and how it was managed widened. These were not just media issues. They were symptoms of systems built for another era.

When Hey began working with blockchain, it was not a pivot driven by hype. It was a continuation of the same instinct that shaped his media career. Complex systems needed to be made legible and workable. MILC emerged from that thinking, first as a way to modernize media licensing, then as something broader. Over time, the infrastructure proved adaptable to problems well outside entertainment.

Milc As A Company Built For Real Constraints

MILC’s identity is often misunderstood. While it began with a marketplace for media rights, it now operates primarily as an infrastructure and advisory company. Based in Luxembourg, the firm works with enterprises that care as much about compliance and continuity as they do about innovation. That positioning is deliberate. European businesses operate under tighter regulatory frameworks, and many have little margin for experimentation that disrupts core operations.

Hey designed MILC to work inside those constraints rather than around them. The company helps clients translate blockchain into workflows that can survive audits, scale across borders, and integrate with existing systems.

“MILC is the infrastructure layer where immersive content lives, evolves, and, crucially, earns. We are not just building a platform; we are architecting the protocol that will power the immersive content economies of the next decade.” Hey says.

This mindset is why MILC has gained credibility in rooms where blockchain is usually met with skepticism. Instead of selling transformation narratives, the team spends time mapping what already exists and adjusting it piece by piece.

MILC’s internal DNA reflects Hey’s background. The media trained him to think in systems. Running broadcasters taught him that technology fails when it ignores incentives. Those lessons show up in how the company works today, whether it is advising a content group or developing infrastructure for something far more industrial.

Why Energy Became The Next Test Case

The most telling extension of MILC’s work is happening outside the media. Hey’s partnership with the ION Power Grid Association places him at the center of a decentralized energy project that uses many of the same principles that shaped MILC’s original platform. Systems need to scale without requiring a single controlling authority.

Through ION Power Grid, Hey is involved in building a network of modular energy units capable of generating up to three megawatts per station. These units are designed to serve data centers, industrial operations, and urban infrastructure. The blockchain layer supports settlement, traceability, and coordination between producers and consumers, while simulation tools model how energy moves before systems go live.

For Hey, the logic is consistent. Energy markets suffer from the same fragmentation that once defined media licensing. Consumers rarely know where power comes from. Smaller producers struggle to access markets. Centralized intermediaries dictate pricing. Tokenized settlement through the IONP framework introduces a way to coordinate supply and demand without adding friction.

The timing is not accidental. According to a report, electricity generation accounts for more than 40 percent of global energy-related carbon emissions. Any serious attempt at decarbonization requires better coordination, not just cleaner sources. Decentralized systems allow that coordination to happen closer to the source, with clearer accounting and fewer handoffs.

Some developments remain private. Others are still being tested. What is clear is that MILC’s infrastructure thinking scales when applied carefully. The media was the proving ground, and energy is where that thinking is now being stress-tested.

To learn more about MILC’s Web3 Consulting Services and join the forefront of decentralized innovation, visit their website: https://www.milc.global/. 

About MILC

Hendrik Hey is the Founder of MILC (Media Industry Licensing Content), a pioneering company in the blockchain and metaverse space, with a strong background in media and content. MILC operates a real live metaverse platform that serves not only the media industry but also various industrial use cases. The company also focuses on Web3 consulting, aiming to support complex real-world industries on their way into Web3. MILC is a sister company of European media giant Welt der Wunder, which Hey founded over 25 years ago.