Volodymyr Nosov: How Crypto-as-a-Service is Shaping the Future of Finance

Financial institutions are under growing pressure to integrate crypto products, not as a niche offering, but as part of their core services. As over 1 billion people are projected to hold digital assets by 2028, and more than half of global crypto activity is expected to come from emerging markets, WhiteBIT's CEO, Volodymyr Nosov shared his opinion on how businesses can realistically meet this demand.

The answer, according to a fintech entrepreneur and expert, lies in Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) — an embedded approach that allows companies to offer crypto wallets, conversion, trading, and payments directly within their existing platforms. While analysing this topic, Volodymyr delved into how traditional financial institutions and digital-native businesses can meet the rising demand for crypto — without rebuilding their core infrastructure.

Crypto Demand is Taking Center Stage

WhiteBIT's premise is centered around a changing consumer behaviour. With crypto adoption going increasingly global and mainstream, people want to transact and manage their digital assets on the go and in real time. However, based on a recent study 75% of crypto holders would prefer to manage their assets through their familiar banking or fintech app. This trend creates a market opportunity, but also a service gap, particularly for financial institutions that rely on legacy infrastructure and fiat rails.

The risk for fintechs and EMIs lies not in technological irrelevance but customer churn, as users migrate to platforms that offer more flexible asset management, including digital currencies.

'Most institutions aren't looking to become crypto exchanges,' says Nosov. 'They want to offer digital assets in a secure, regulated, and seamless way—without overhauling their tech stacks or incurring the additional cost and burden of crypto regulation.'

From Infrastructure Gaps to Embedded Services

Rather than building blockchain systems from scratch, WhiteBIT proposes that institutions could embed crypto wallets, trading, custody, and payment tools through their modular APIs provided by infrastructure partners. This 'Crypto-as-a-Service' model addresses several friction points that traditionally block institutional adoption:

• Licensing and compliance: Institutions must navigate jurisdiction-specific regulations
• Liquidity provision: Ensuring access to deep liquidity pools for a smooth conversion between fiat and crypto
• KYC/AML enforcement: Meeting growing expectations for identity verification and fraud prevention
• Integration speed: Reducing the development lead times for in-house tech teams
• Time to market: Slow deployment of the new products and delayed revenue

In practical terms, this model allows banks or digital wallets to offer digital assets in a speedy and compliant manner while outsourcing back-end and regulatory complexity.

Applications in Banking, Fintech, and Telecom

WhiteBIT cited several client use cases, including a telecom operator and a neobank. One of their customers embedded crypto trading into its mobile interface to generate new revenue streams; another enabled users to buy and sell crypto via USSD code, a feature designed for users in developing countries.

The WhiteBIT ecosystem offers services like the Whitepay crypto acquiring service. Thanks to the partnership, users can also utilise their crypto for daily transactions without fees, paying for services with the help of crypto. Whitepay offers crypto acquiring, next-day settlements, and claims lower transaction fees than traditional payment processors.

Additionally, WhiteBIT's Nova card supports crypto payments through crypto-to-fiat conversion, catering to both online businesses and consumer finance apps.

These examples point to a shift in how crypto is becoming intertwined with our daily financial life, not only as an upcoming alternative asset, but as a tool for inclusion and customer retention, particularly in regions underserved by the traditional banking system.

The Role of Regulation

Nosov also emphasized the compliance layer. In his view, the viability of CaaS depends heavily on regulatory alignment. Service providers in this space need to be licenced as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), offer full Know Your Business (KYB) onboarding, and integrate with third-party risk monitoring services to stay ahead of evolving standards.

A Utility-Driven Future

Embedded crypto solutions develop as part of a broader industry shift toward infrastructure as a service. In this model, institutions don't need to go through the hurdles of designing every single product in-house, but they do need to offer digital assets to their customers if they want to stay competitive in the long run.

As the market matures, the strategic question for financial service providers may no longer be if they should offer crypto, but how they do so without compromising on compliance, security, or user experience.

'Digital assets offering has become a part of everyone's product roadmap now,' Nosov concluded. 'It's just a matter of time who would be the first to attract a younger audience and give more reasons to stay to the existing customers in a profitable and sustainable way.'