In this episode of the Connector Podcast, recorded live at the Latvia FinTech Forum, host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews Mustafa Baltaci, a Turkish fintech veteran and winner of the event’s startup contest. Mustafa outlines his extensive background – five years as Deputy CEO of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, experience with the World Bank and Turkish government, and a decade of fintech entrepreneurship. He describes how he founded Turkey’s first fintech hub and organized Istanbul FinTech Week, a recurring event that has attracted 1,500 participants from 30 countries. He then explains his current business model: a consultancy that advises banks, insurers, brokerages and startups on M&A, fundraising, corporate innovation, and digital banking strategies. Building on this, Mustafa introduces Primex, a B2B crypto‑trading platform delivered as a plug‑and‑play SaaS solution that also provides liquidity‑as‑a‑service, targeting financial institutions that lack in‑house development resources. He highlights the market opportunity – over 42 million crypto users in Europe and the upcoming MiCA regulation – and argues that the regulatory environment is becoming favourable for crypto services. The conversation turns to why the company is relocating to Latvia. Mustafa cites the Baltic region’s reputation as a tech hub (e‑government, e‑residency, fintech‑friendly licensing in Estonia and Lithuania) and the supportive, forward‑looking stance of Latvian regulators, which he sees as essential for a heavily regulated crypto‑banking product. He concludes with contact details (LinkedIn, Twitter) and mentions that Primex is not yet public, but will be launched under the Coop Ventures umbrella once incorporated in Latvia.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Koen Vanderhoydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Welcome to another episode of the Connector Podcast, and today I'm streaming live from Latvia, Riga, and I have a very special guest. I say that all the time, but this time I have a winner from a fintech contest around me and the table. Mustafa, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and about your company?
Koen, thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure. So my name is Mustafa Baltaci. I'm based in Istanbul. I'm from Turkey, and I just came here for this event, Latvia Fintech Forum. And I think I'm one of the happy participants of this contest, of this competition. And as a matter of fact, most of the times I would say that I'm in the fintech industry for the last 10 years. And I am the one who is mentoring the startups. This time, I'm basically in the shoes of an entrepreneur, of a founder, and which made me in the lucky minority, I guess, in this event today. And I think it is purely good luck that we became the winner. Congratulations, by the way. Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate it. And, but let us start from the, from the very beginning. So I have this background in the fintech industry. But even before that, I have this, you know, corporate pedigree. And with the capital markets, with the financial services industry, I was Deputy CEO of Istanbul Stock Exchange for 5 years. And—
That I didn't know.
Oh, okay. So before that, I was with the World Bank, I was with the government, you know, in Turkey. And but And for the last 10 years, I've been running my own business here and there. And I think we have several companies in several places, in various places, including Estonia. But the focus is mostly on fintech business. And we started the first ever fintech hub in Turkey back in 2017. We launched the first ever fintech event in Turkey back in 2015. So we have this first in a way, but we are not, I mean, Make no mistake, we are not event managers. The whole idea with us was that let's, you know, build a community around that one.
Yeah.
Because once we started our own, you know, fintech consultancy, it was, it made a lot of sense, but it's not quite easy to come up with good sort of prospects from the startups, you know, front, even from the banks, you know, front. And these were the sort of, you know, 2 major sort of players by then because they didn't fully understand the whole, spectrum, as well as the opportunities and challenges. That's why we started to, you know, build this community around that one. It made a lot of sense. We did a lot of things, I guess. I don't remember the number of meetups we have ever pulled together. It should be definitely more than 60, I guess, before COVID time.
That's probably why you know Oluş then.
Of course, Oluş is a great friend. So yeah, so I think last time we were together, it was this, you know, meetup in Azerbaijan. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he was, he was a speaker there by then. But so we have a lot of, you know, great friends like Ološ. And again, it is the ecosystem, it is a community, right? And, and, and yeah, and worlds are sort of, you know, meeting with each other in different places in a way. This is how I feel about it today because this is my first time in Latvia, even though I have been to more than 60 countries. But this is my first time. It's a bit unfortunate, but I loved it today here. So, and me too.
Me too.
Yeah, yeah. So I guess what we experienced today is basically just sort of an outcome of what we have been building at our end in a way, because we are here today as an invitee for this startup competition. But I was also a speaker at a panel in terms of the fintech investment. So I have several shoes here. And thanks to this pedigree also, we have managed to build over time.
But now you make me very curious. Can you explain me and the audience what you guys are doing? Can you give us like a mini 1-minute pitch in the podcast?
Let me do that. Let me do that. Sorry about that.
Here we go.
Okay. So we do consultancy for banks, for insurers, for brokerages, and as well as for startups. So whenever there is this M&A or fundraising, so we help them out. For the corporates like banks and the insurers, we also help them out with their corporate innovation programs. for their fintech strategies and all. This is, for example, why today I am helping the largest bank in Azerbaijan. So I'm their advisor. So we are building this strategy for the startup, you know, programs as well as for the fintech strategy, digital banking too. So we have a sort of multidimensional angle when it comes to the fintech business here.
You're almost like a connector too?
I think— I don't think I can, you know, sort of I want to say that you guys are doing an amazing job based on what you shared with me, and it is incomparable, definitely. But we are doing our part in a way. I think one of the events— I mean, we don't do such many events, but we have this sort of landmark event in Istanbul. It's called Istanbul FinTech Week. We did the 4th edition last April, and we are doing the 5th one. And so at the last edition, we had 1,500 people. from 30 countries. So it is another thing that, I mean, in terms of this community building and all, and we would love to, we would love to, you know, work with you guys in the respect.
Oh, we would love to come.
We would love to come. Yeah, let's do that. Istanbul is definitely a meeting point, you know.
And that's a place I have not been to.
Come on.
No kidding. No kidding.
Istanbul is a must-be place. You should be there. So this is an open invitation to you, Koen. Let's do that.
Thank you very much, Mustafa. It's noted down.
Okay. Thank you.
Okay, and because the— so did you pitch then the ecosystem today to the pitching contest? Because I had the impression there was also a product involved, but that maybe was my misunderstanding, but—
No, no, no, the pitch was about this startup. So the startup is already available, and we have this business in Turkey, but the idea is basically to change the business structure, And incorporate the whole project here in Latvia. So that is that is the the current approach and current standpoint at our end. So that's why actually we are here. So and the contest was basically just a leverage. And so with or without that one, so we are quite willing to start a business here. And so the product comes with it, and it's based on our experience because I think I've been in crypto for almost twelve thirteen years now. I'm in trading. trading business because of the capital markets pedigree. So, but I always have had my, you know, suspicions around that one because whenever you ask about Bitcoin or crypto products to a finance professional or an asset manager, they would always come back to you by asking what is the underlying value, right? So it's a whole discussion. I'm not going to, you know, dig through that one.
Not necessarily.
No, not, but the current, you know, environment is basically dictating us that, The crypto is here to remain, right? And apparently there are 42 million users only in Europe. They they have been touching upon crypto products, you know, at some point. In a way, it is a huge number. It's a huge number, meaning that crypto has carved a niche not only in Europe but around the world. So and the second thing is the regulations are also paving the way, and they're leveling the playing field. Right? Yeah, Mika is something quite important here, and apparently most of the European countries and they are adjusting. Themselves towards, you know, MiCA regulation. It is happening this year or the next year. So there is this, you know, window of opportunity here. So based on the regulatory initiatives, as well as the sort of the willingness and ambitions of the banks and brokers and asset managers to jump into this huge and growing industry, we are basically just filling a gap by providing this service, which is a crypto trading platform that is completely embedded like a SaaS service for the banks, right? They could not only for banks but also for brokers and other FIs too. So they could easily embed this, you know, service into their mobile apps as well as their web service. It is very doable quickly and it's very, you know, cost efficient because most of the times, you know, these FIs, they're either sluggish in terms of this, you know, investments towards technology.
Mm-hmm.
And they're lacking, you know, some resources some of the times in terms of development, this and that.
It's also time to market.
It is, definitely. So we are helping them out. We are helping them out with this service. And, but on top of this, we are also offering this liquidity, meaning that—
Is that the exchange part that you—
Right.
Yeah.
But it's not going to be like these, you know, big guys, like big names, right? Crypto exchanges, because it's not a B2C exchange, it's just a liquidity machine, meaning that we are basically helping the clients, these B2B clients, banks, brokerages, and others for their, not only, you know, software requirements, this, you know, trading service, but also with the liquidity, because there are 2 angles with that.
Sure.
You might have this—
You're a market maker if you want.
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So based on this, you know, corporate structure that we are having here, we are also starting a B2B exchange, a liquidity machine, liquidity engine here. So once the customers are willing, so we will be also offering them the liquidity service. So it is end-to-end and plug-and-play, you know, solution for them.
And You said that you have an ambition to land into Latvia. You made it also clear in your presentation.
Yes, I did.
A clear path going forward. Well, what was the reasoning of selecting Latvia as your new home base in the Baltics?
So I think the Baltics, they have this argument that they are becoming these tech hubs, right? And it started with Estonia and these e-government initiatives, e-residency and everything. They have attracted a lot of talent from different parts of the world.
That's correct.
And Lithuania follows suit, and by having this fintech sort of focus, right? They have done a great job too. A lot of you know digital banks, you know some of the banks also conventional banks. They have their sort of licenses and offices in Lithuania, and Latvia is also trying to make a difference here.
And I think crypto noticed that on everything today.
Absolutely. They made it. They made the emphasis many times.
A lot of energy.
Absolutely. It is amazing, by the way. I'm so much impressed. So, and even the regulators, I mean, it's not quite easy to find such conducive and friendly regulators in many countries. That's why we came down here. Okay, so crypto and the banking and the capital markets, these are overly regulated industries. So you need to work closely with the regulators. Without the support and backup of them, I don't mean that we need to overlook the regulations.
No, No, there should be— That's not what you said.
Absolutely.
No, that's not how I read it.
There should be full compliance with the regulations, with the procedures and everything. But well, I mean, the approach of the regulators, it is something quite important. It is pivotal, right? So that's what we see here. And since we have this positive approach towards our product and our service, we are incorporating here in Latvia. That is, that is the current strategy that we have.
Makes sense. We're actually at the end of our podcast. Time flies when you're having fun. So I have one last more— last— I have one more question for you. Where can people find you? How can they contact you? Because there are so many banks in Europe, so let's pave them the way to come to you to get a crypto offering.
So, um, our product is called Primex. So it's Prime plus X. So, um, I guess they will get to hear more about us, right, through, through different, you know, uh, Absolutely, absolutely. But currently, I mean, well, it is it is not public yet. So if there would be such a thing, they can always you know find me and contact me through LinkedIn. I'm available on LinkedIn. I'm available on Twitter. My name is Mustafa Baltaci again. So so and the company that I'm currently basically representing is called Coop Ventures, K O O P Ventures. So we are based out of Estonia currently. But once we are incorporated, I guess it's going to be you know Primex and they will get. Yeah, Big Bang.
We're all looking forward to that.
Appreciate it.
Mustafa, thank you very much for joining me in this podcast. Again, congratulations with your prize, well deserved. And thank you also to the listeners for tuning in and stay tuned for more news in the fintech world. Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
Thanks for listening to another episode of the Connector Podcast. To connect and keep up to date with all the latest in the fintech world, Head over to www.jointheconnector.com. Or hit subscribe via your podcast streaming platform.
