Baltics
Modern Oracles & Smart Payments: Finrax’s Vision for Blockchain, AI & Beyond
Finrax steps into the spotlight as the official Lanyards Sponsor at HIPTHER’s MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 in Vilnius, bringing with them a next-gen crypto payment gateway and a bold vision that extends far beyond payments.
We sat down with Konstantinas Balakinas, CEO of Finrax, to discuss the future of AI in finance, the real-world potential of blockchain beyond the buzzwords, and how Finrax plans to bridge fintech innovation with eCommerce and beyond.
Konstantinas, thank you for joining us! Can you please introduce yourself to our readers, and share more about your professional background and role in Finrax?
Thank you — it’s a pleasure to be part of this conversation, especially as Finrax steps into a more visible role at this year’s summit.
I’ve been working in the financial industry since 1999, mostly in regulated environments. The bulk of my career has been in consumer finance, where I had the chance to grow several companies from the ground up and eventually guide one through the process of securing a specialized bank license. That experience taught me a lot about how to build resilient financial infrastructure — and how to adapt when the rules, tools, and expectations shift.
My interest in AI came later. I had a first-hand look at its practical impact while working with a Lithuanian EMI that was really leaning into AI-driven operations. That sparked something — and eventually led me to study AI for Business Analytics at Turing College, where I’m currently sharpening both technical and strategic understanding of how AI can reshape financial services.
At Finrax, I serve as CEO and Chair of the Management Board in its Lithuanian entity. Our mission goes beyond crypto payments — we’re focused on building real utility for digital assets in a way that businesses can trust and adopt without friction.
How do you see today’s AI solutions? Can they be truly predictive, like “modern oracles”, or are we still in the realm of reactive technology?
AI today is generative AI — especially large language models (LLMs), which have made impressive progress in producing human-like text and anticipating user intent. So in a technical sense, yes — these systems are predictive, but not in the way many assume. What they predict is not the future itself, but the next statistically likely word or phrase based on patterns learned from massive datasets. That creates the appearance of intelligence, but not true comprehension.
This distinction is essential. As Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West explain in The Bullshit Machines, LLMs can sound coherent and authoritative while having no actual grasp of truth. They generate content that feels convincing, regardless of whether it’s accurate or logically sound. That’s not a flaw — it’s how they’re designed.
One should approach these tools with both optimism and caution. Today’s AI still sits within the boundaries of Artificial Narrow Intelligence — excellent at specific tasks like pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and content generation, but still a long way from Artificial General Intelligence, which would reason and adapt like a human across any domain. And Artificial Superintelligence, capable of recursive self-improvement and independent thought, remains firmly theoretical.
So, while we admire the capabilities of today’s generative AI, we don’t mistake fluency for understanding. These are powerful tools — but not oracles. The real challenge is using them responsibly and building systems around them that make sense in the real world.
What are some practical ways AI is and could be integrated into Finrax’s crypto payment platform? Are there use cases you’re already exploring or see as promising?
I see three core domains where AI tools offer real practical value — not just for Finrax, but for any fintech building towards efficiency, scale, and regulatory clarity.
The first is internal productivity. AI works well as a personal assistant for employees — helping with everything from drafting emails to summarizing documents or generating code. Off-the-shelf tools like ChatGPT are already useful for this, but their impact depends heavily on how well people know how to prompt them. That’s why custom GPTs are especially promising: they allow us to build tailored assistants with topic-specific knowledge and clear task guidance. For instance, an onboarding specialist might use one to walk through a compliant KYC checklist, while a developer could use another to generate smart contract boilerplate or debug Python scripts.
The second domain is AI agents — and this space is moving fast. These systems handle automated, rule-based workflows, often collaborating with other agents to move tasks along. They’re more constrained than LLMs, but more reliable when used within predefined rules. For a crypto payment platform like ours, agents could eventually assist in payment routing, compliance alerts, or even technical monitoring — anything repetitive that benefits from low-latency automation.
The third area is pattern recognition, where AI’s value is most proven. We see strong potential in using it to support fraud detection and ML/TF screening — not to replace human oversight, but to enhance it. Spotting unusual activity, flagging anomalies, or refining transaction scoring — these are all areas where AI can quietly but meaningfully improve risk management.
That said, we’re also realistic about the limits. With the EU AI Act now on the horizon, every integration has to pass the test of explainability, compliance, and accountability. Any system we deploy will need a clear inventory, GDPR alignment, risk assessment, and, in some cases, staff training. We’re already looking into how these rules will apply — especially as we explore the potential of agent-based systems.
So yes, we’re enthusiastic — but we’re moving deliberately. We’re not building AI from scratch, but we are actively exploring how to apply it in meaningful ways — both internally and within our services. Our business development team is already using tools like ChatGPT in their day-to-day work, and we see real gains in productivity and clarity. That’s the direction we’re leaning into: using AI where it helps people do their jobs better, not just to check a box.
Finrax has built a strong reputation for reliability and speed – processing crypto payments in under a minute. What differentiates your platform from other solutions currently available on the market?
Reliability is the real star here. Speed is expected in blockchain-based systems — but combining that speed with stability, predictability, and regulatory clarity is a much harder problem to solve. That’s exactly where Finrax delivers.
We’ve built a platform that doesn’t just move fast — it does so in a way businesses can actually depend on. We offer fixed-rate settlements to remove volatility, giving partners certainty about what they’ll receive. That’s especially important in high-volume environments, where financial precision matters just as much as transaction speed.
Compliance is also baked in. Every transaction goes through full AML/CTF screening, and our onboarding and monitoring standards are designed to meet the expectations of regulated businesses. That’s not a side feature — it’s part of our foundation.
And while many of our clients have international operations, we’re careful to operate only where we’re permitted to do so. With MiCA coming into force, we’re preparing to scale responsibly, aligned with the new rulebook.
So yes, we’re fast — but more importantly, we’re reliable. And in this space, that’s what truly sets us apart.
What opportunities do you see in the field of eCommerce for a crypto-first payment provider, and what role could Finrax play in shaping the future of online payments?
Crypto is here to stay — and with that in mind, we’re building the tools to help eCommerce businesses accept crypto as naturally as they would any traditional payment method. Our goal at Finrax is to provide plug-and-play solutions that allow online stores across the EU to accept payments in stablecoins or major cryptocurrencies without having to rethink their entire checkout process.
The opportunity goes beyond retail. We see strong potential in industries like logistics, aviation, luxury, and of course, gaming platforms — areas where cross-border payments, speed, and transparency really matter. That said, everything still depends on how quickly users adopt crypto in their day-to-day transactions.
What gives us optimism is the direction regulation is moving. With MiCA coming into effect in the EU, we’re finally getting a clear rulebook — and that’s exactly what’s needed to build trust. Once customers know that only licensed, properly regulated providers can offer these services, it changes the perception. It brings structure to the market — and with structure comes wider adoption.
At Finrax, we’re preparing for that shift. We don’t just want to be ready for the future of payments — we want to help shape it in a way that’s both efficient and trusted.
As the world becomes increasingly automated, how do you see Finrax maintaining a balance between innovation and user-centric service, especially amidst the fast-evolving tech and regulatory landscapes?
Automation, at its core, is about efficiency — but that doesn’t mean we lose sight of the human side. In fact, I’d argue that smart automation should strengthen customer-centricity, not weaken it.
At Finrax, we see automation as a way to free up our people to focus on what actually matters — understanding the client’s real needs, solving problems, and making sure the experience feels consistent and supportive across the board. It also helps us align internal processes more clearly, so that we’re not sending mixed messages to clients. That’s often where customer frustration begins — not with the technology, but with the gaps between systems and people.
Another benefit is the ability to understand customers more precisely. With better data and well-designed workflows, we can respond faster and more accurately, without adding friction.
But none of this can come at the expense of trust. As regulations like MiCA, GDPR, and the EU AI Act begin shaping the environment, it’s clear that automation must be explainable, compliant, and ethically sound. For us, innovation isn’t just about what’s possible — it’s about what’s responsible. And we see that as a competitive advantage, not a constraint.
You’ll be joining the panel “Beyond the Hype” at MARE BALTICUM, discussing blockchain and AI applications in finance and governance. What are you most looking forward to sharing with the audience – and what do you hope to take away from the conversation?
A lot of the hype around AI comes from not really understanding how it works — and I think it’s important to go back to the basics. Most people still assume these systems “know” things. But in reality, large language models are built by training on massive volumes of data — much of it containing human bias, errors, or even outright misinformation. They don’t reason. They predict. They break down language into tokens and map those tokens across hundreds of abstract dimensions — far beyond how we perceive space — then generate output that mimics meaning, even if it’s not grounded in real understanding. But it’s not grounded in fact unless you make it so.
Even the best models will produce an answer to almost anything — even if that answer is fabricated. That’s why we see hallucinations. Unless you know how to prompt properly and critically assess the output, the result might sound confident while being completely off. This is why I always say: at this stage, AI should be seen as an assistant, not an authority. The human must remain in the loop — and at the top.
That said, the future isn’t bleak — it’s exciting, if we use these tools responsibly. One example that stands out to me is what Stripe recently did. They trained an AI model not on words or code, but on tens of billions of payment transactions. The model learned the “language” of money — identifying how payments behave, how fraud patterns look, and what hidden connections exist between different data points. The result? They went from detecting 59% of sophisticated card testing fraud attempts to 97% — almost overnight. That’s not just a technical win — it’s a complete shift in how we think about structured financial data.
So on this panel, I’m hoping to bring two things to the table: first, a grounded reminder that no model is infallible, and second, a practical optimism. AI has the potential to make finance faster, smarter, and safer — but only if we stay thoughtful about how we design, train, and regulate it. Humans should come first — but we don’t need to fear the future if we build it wisely.
Meet Konstantinas Balakinas and the Finrax team live at the MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 on 27–28 May in Vilnius.
🔗 Register now to learn more about blockchain-powered finance, crypto innovation, and the real tech shaping tomorrow’s payments.
The post Modern Oracles & Smart Payments: Finrax’s Vision for Blockchain, AI & Beyond appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
As TechXperience Stage Sponsor of HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026, Kanggiten brings its performance-focused platform and operational expertise to the heart of the event’s technology discussions. We spoke with Ivan Korkin, Head of Account Management at Kanggiten, about translating B2C experience into scalable B2B solutions and driving measurable growth in today’s iGaming landscape.
How would you position Kanggiten today, and what core value does your platform deliver to partners?
– Kanggiten today is a modular iGaming platform built specifically for teams that operate on the B2C side. The core idea behind the product is simple: we take over 10 years of real operational experience and translate it into technology that helps partners turn traffic into measurable revenue.
From a technical perspective, the platform combines all key elements: casino and sportsbook engines, aggregation, payments, analytics, CRM, and affiliate management – within a single ecosystem. This allows operators to manage the entire lifecycle without fragmentation.
Another important aspect is adaptability. The platform is designed to support multi-geo operations, including local payment methods, currencies, and compliance requirements, which is critical for performance in different markets.
In terms of collaboration, we provide flexible models – from white label setups for fast market entry within a few weeks, to more customized turnkey solutions depending on the scale and maturity of the project.
What are your next steps for scaling the business and strengthening Kanggiten’s market position?
– Our current focus is split between product evolution and business expansion.
On the product side, we are actively developing new capabilities, including predictive tools that will help marketing teams make more informed decisions based on data patterns inside the platform.
At the same time, we are scaling commercially. We’re onboarding new clients, launching additional brands, and expanding into new markets. 2026 is already showing strong momentum, especially as our visibility in the market has increased and inbound demand continues to grow.
So in practical terms, our priorities are clear: expand geographically, grow the number of active brands on the platform, and continue investing in product development.
How has your experience with end users shaped your B2B approach, and how is this reflected in your product and results? Could you share an example?
– Our B2C background fundamentally defines how we approach product development. We don’t build features based on assumptions – everything is tested and validated through real user behavior.
There are several areas where this is especially visible.
First is retention. Today, sustainable growth is driven more by retention than by acquisition. That’s why we focus heavily on onboarding flows, CRM logic, bonus structures, and reactivation strategies. Retention is not a standalone tool – it’s a system built on continuous testing and data analysis.
Second is segmentation. Personalization only works when it’s built on meaningful segmentation. We test different traffic groups, analyze behavioral patterns, and create tailored scenarios for each segment. This directly impacts monetization efficiency.
Third is the use of AI. At this stage, AI is no longer experimental – it’s embedded into operations. We apply it in fraud prevention, KYC, content generation, and support automation to improve both efficiency and decision-making.
And finally, distribution channels. We work across a wide range of touchpoints, which allows operators to engage users in different environments and adapt quickly when market conditions change.
If we look at a practical example, GEO-specific behavior plays a critical role. In Turkey, even small UI details like how percentage values are displayed can influence conversion.
In LATAM, on the other hand, fraud patterns are more prominent, so we implement additional AI-driven verification layers. These insights are transferable once validated in one market, they can be applied in others with similar characteristics.
What challenges do operators and affiliates most often face after working with other platforms, where do they typically lose revenue or users, and how do you address these issues?
– In most cases, the issues are not unique – they repeat across different operators and platforms.
One of the main gaps is conversion management. Many platforms generate traffic but lack the tools to properly analyze and optimize the funnel. Without clear visibility into user behavior, improving conversion becomes difficult.
Another area is engagement. Gamification is often either too basic or requires additional development. In practice, it should be a core part of the platform, not an add-on, because it directly impacts retention and revenue.
Scalability is also a frequent issue. Platforms may perform well at a smaller scale but struggle under higher load. Without real operational experience, these limitations often appear too late. Our approach combines stable infrastructure with continuous adaptation, allowing us to maintain performance under growth.
Retention is another critical point. It doesn’t happen automatically – it needs to be engineered through segmentation, personalized communication, and ongoing experimentation. This is where our B2C experience plays a key role.
If we break it down further, operators typically lose performance in four areas:
conversion inefficiencies, lack of GEO adaptation, technical limitations, and slow time-to-market.
We address these by building the platform as a flexible system that evolves continuously rather than a static product.
What factors have the greatest impact on growth and conversion today, and how do you see these evolving in 2026–2027?
– One of the main drivers will be hyper-personalization. Platforms will increasingly adapt in real time to individual user behavior, shaping unique experiences for each session.
At the same time, market expansion will continue to fuel growth. New regions and emerging markets will open additional opportunities for operators, along with new approaches to acquisition and engagement.
Another major shift will come from automation. Operational processes will become increasingly automated, reducing manual workload and improving efficiency.
This will be driven not only by AI in general, but by more advanced, agent-based systems that can handle tasks such as content generation, customer interaction, and fraud detection with minimal human involvement.
Overall, the direction is clear: more data-driven decision-making, more automation, and more adaptive user experiences.
The post Kanggiten: From B2C Insight to B2B Performance in iGaming appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
HIPTHER has officially released the full agenda for HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026, taking place on 11 May 2026 at the Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, setting the stage for one of the region’s most focused and practically relevant gatherings at the intersection of compliance, fintech, AI, and player protection.
As the second stop in the HIPTHER Baltics 2026 series, the Riga edition builds on the momentum of Vilnius and sharpens the conversation around what comes next: operating, scaling, and staying compliant in an increasingly complex and tightly regulated environment.
Latvia 2026: Regulation, Risk & Innovation in Motion
The Riga agenda is designed around a simple reality: in today’s market, compliance is no longer a checkbox — it’s the foundation of sustainable growth.
Bringing together regulators, legal experts, fintech leaders, operators, and technology innovators, the one-day conference delivers a high-impact program across two parallel stages:
- Compliance & Operations Lab
- TechXperience Stage
Together, they explore how businesses can remain competitive while navigating regulatory pressure, technological disruption, and shifting market expectations.
From Theory to Practice: What the Agenda Delivers
Across a tightly curated schedule, HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026 dives into the real operational challenges shaping the Baltic and wider European ecosystem.
Key sessions include:
- Baltic Gaming Law & Regulatory Outlook – A grounded look at regional frameworks and enforcement realities
- FinTech Supervision in Practice: AI, Risk & Regulation – Moving beyond buzzwords into actual implementation
- Player Protection in Practice – What responsible gaming looks like in real-world operations
- AML Directives & Data Protection – Practical compliance strategies that actually work
- Cross-Border Licensing & Regulatory Harmonization – Navigating multi-jurisdictional complexity
- Fraud Prevention & Emerging Technologies – Staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats
- Marketing, Affiliates & Growth in Regulated Markets – How to grow when visibility is restricted
- Payments, Digital Assets & Fintech Innovation – Building resilient financial infrastructure
The agenda also addresses one of the most pressing shifts in digital strategy:
- From SEO to AIEO – The transition from ranking websites to becoming the direct answer in AI-driven search environments
Four Core Pillars Defining Riga 2026
The conference is structured around four key pillars shaping the future of regulated industries:
- Gaming Law & Player Protection – The leading theme: Enforcement, licensing, fraud prevention, and responsible gaming
- FinTech & Payments – Supervision, digital assets, and financial infrastructure
- AI & Compliance – Automation, risk, taxation, and operational workflows
- Growth & Visibility – Market intelligence, affiliates, SEO, and AI-era discoverability
A Boutique Conference Built for Real Conversations
HIPTHER Baltics: Riga continues the series’ commitment to focused, high-level dialogue in a boutique environment, prioritizing meaningful interaction over mass-expo noise.
Attendees can expect:
- Senior-level panels with regulators and industry leaders
- Practical, implementation-driven discussions
- Curated networking with decision-makers across gaming, fintech, and compliance
- A full-day experience culminating in a Golden Hour Mixer and evening social gathering at the Skyline Bar
Part of a Larger Baltic Vision
HIPTHER Baltics 2026 spans three key cities — Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn — each designed to address locally relevant challenges while contributing to a broader regional dialogue on regulation, innovation, and growth.
“This agenda was built for companies that understand growth today depends on getting compliance, technology, and player protection right at the same time. We’re bringing together decision-makers who want honest conversations, practical insights, and partnerships that actually move business forward“ said Zoltán Tűndik, Co-Founder & Head of Business at HIPTHER.
Event Details
HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026 – Cross-Border Compliance & Player Protection
Date: 11 May 2026
Location: Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga
More information & tickets: https://hipther.com/events/riga/
The post HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026 Agenda – Where Compliance Meets Reality and Growth Gets Tested appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Baltics
HIPTHER Positions Vilnius at the Centre of Europe’s Fintech Growth with New Annual Fintech Summit
Following the successful debut of HIPTHER Baltics: Vilnius 2026, HIPTHER is proud to announce the transformation of its Vilnius event into the HIPTHER Fintech Summit –– a new annual pan-European gathering dedicated to fintech innovation, regulation, payments infrastructure, digital banking, compliance, and financial technology growth.
Hosted each year in Vilnius, the Summit is designed to unite fintech leaders, regulators, banking innovators, investors, infrastructure providers, and high-growth technology companies in one of Europe’s most dynamic and fast-rising fintech capitals.
The announcement follows a strong first edition of HIPTHER Baltics: Vilnius, where speakers and delegates explored Lithuania’s evolving regulatory landscape, open banking leadership, MiCA readiness, next-generation payments, blockchain infrastructure, AI in finance, and the future of cross-border digital services.
Why Vilnius, Why Now
Over the last decade, Lithuania has emerged as one of Europe’s most ambitious fintech ecosystems, attracting international payment institutions, EMI leaders, blockchain businesses, challenger banking operations, and compliance-focused innovators.
With a progressive regulatory environment, world-class talent, strong digital infrastructure, and strategic access to European markets, Vilnius has become a natural meeting point for the future of finance.
The new HIPTHER Fintech Summit aims to accelerate that momentum by creating a boutique, high-value annual platform where real decision-makers meet to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and shape the next era of European financial innovation.
What the HIPTHER Fintech Summit Will Cover
Attendees can expect deep-dive discussions across topics including:
- Open Banking & A2A Payments
- Cross-Border Financial Infrastructure
- EMI & Digital Banking Growth
- MiCA, AML & Regulatory Readiness
- Embedded Finance & B2B Payments
- AI in Financial Services
- Blockchain & Tokenisation
- Cybersecurity & Fraud Prevention
- Fintech Investment & Scale-Up Strategy
A Boutique Summit for Serious Industry Dialogue & Networking
True to HIPTHER’s established event DNA, the Summit will prioritize quality over crowd size — bringing together senior professionals in a premium environment built for meaningful networking, practical insight, and long-term business value.
Zoltán Tűndik, Co-Founder & Head of Business at HIPTHER, commented:
“Vilnius has proven to be the perfect home for this vision. By launching the HIPTHER Fintech Summit, we are establishing a dedicated annual anchor for the European fintech community to gather, collaborate, and navigate the complex but exciting intersection of technology and regulation in a city that truly lives and breathes innovation.”
Looking Ahead
The inaugural official edition of the HIPTHER Fintech Summit will take place in Vilnius in 2027, with dates and early registration details to be announced soon.
Keep an eye out for dates at the official website of HIPTHER Events and follow HIPTHER (LinkedIn, Facebook) and @hipther_agency (Instagram) for updates.
About HIPTHER
HIPTHER is a leading boutique media and events brand connecting leaders across iGaming, fintech, blockchain, AI, compliance, and emerging technology sectors through premium conferences, expert content, and high-value networking experiences across Europe.
The post HIPTHER Positions Vilnius at the Centre of Europe’s Fintech Growth with New Annual Fintech Summit appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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