Hello, FinTech community. Welcome to our FinTech Top Voice Interview Series.
The latest FinTech Interview with Konstantin Shulga, CEO and Co-Founder at Finery Markets is an interactive Q&A-styled conversation.
Konstantin Shulga has over 15 years of institutional financial markets experience across major asset classes from equities to FX and derivatives.
Konstantin’s career has seen a remarkable evolution, starting with Product positions at premier brokerage houses and the largest exchange in Eastern Europe, peaking in his high-profile appointment as the Managing Director of the region’s largest investment bank.
Nominated by Forbes 30 under 30 in 2020 and joined Finery Markets as a CEO & Co-founder in 2021.
About Finery Markets –
Finery Markets is a leading technology provider of non-custodial crypto ECN and trading SaaS, specifically designed for institutional clients across more than 35 countries.
The company offers the first hybrid, crypto-native ECN technology, enabling trading via an aggregated order book or RFQ. Since its launch in 2019, Finery Markets has expanded its ecosystem, now serving over 150 digital asset clients—including payment providers, brokers, OTC desks, hedge funds, and custodians. Finery Markets enhances capital efficiency, ensures optimal execution, assists in risk management, and simplifies settlement processes. In 2024, Finery Markets was recognized as one of the top 50 rising stars in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 competition.
Let’s start…
FinTech Insights (FTI): Hi Konstantin, Welcome to the Fintech Top Voice Interview Series. Can you share the story behind the inception of Finery Markets? What inspired you to start this platform?
Konstantin: Thank you for having me as part of this series. I’m always eager to share my journey, as it reflects a broader trend of convergence between digital assets and traditional finance.
For over 15 years, I’ve held various roles in electronic trading, focusing on the international development of exchange infrastructure and brokerage services across equities, fixed income, and foreign exchange. However, everything changed for me in 2017 when I encountered the Bitcoin whitepaper. The emergence of a new asset class is an exceptionally rare event in the financial world—truly a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
At that time, though, the crypto market’s structure was far from being institution-ready. Expecting institutions to embrace a model that combined vertically integrated trade and post-trade services with limited custody solutions and opaque market practices was, frankly, naive. The subsequent market shocks and downturns in the crypto space only reinforced this perspective.
It was during this period that my future co-founder, Ilia Drozdov, and I pinpointed a critical barrier: the absence of players offering a truly crypto-native, yet institutional-grade infrastructure. Recognizing this gap, I decided to take a leap of faith. I transitioned to a full-time role as the CEO and co-founder of Finery Markets, determined to tackle this challenge head-on.
FTI: How do you see the role of decentralized trading platforms evolving in the fintech ecosystem over the next five years?
Konstantin: From a technological point of view, it’s the driving force. The speed of innovation is enormous. Skilled, tech-savvy teams are entering the industry, building their projects across layers and blockchains, which means the infrastructure will remain fragmented, presenting unique challenges that all market players must navigate.
Take, for instance, the delicate balance between transparency, privacy, and cybersecurity standards that institutions must maintain. These organizations are bound by stringent regulatory compliance and data protection standards, which can be difficult to uphold in a system originally designed for full transparency.
Or consider the idea of disintermediation of financial services. Once you step out of the crypto-native space and meet TradFi, this concept will inexorably be challenged by the centralized nature of existing de-fi trading protocols and the expectations of institutional players. Experienced financial professionals are not easily swayed by the allure of decentralization without thorough scrutiny.
There’s a lot of discussion, even speculation, but it needs to be clearly stated—institutional adoption of De-Fi is not here yet. First, some mundane, heavy work needs to be done—slowly and incrementally.
We see both centralized and decentralized concepts being tested to bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto. I believe that hybrid solutions may emerge, combining the advantages of decentralization with the efficiency of centralized systems. Such solutions could uphold the ideology behind blockchain while addressing the practical business needs of TradFi. This balance will be crucial in advancing the fintech landscape.
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FTI: What are the current trends in fintech that excite you the most, particularly in the trading and crypto space? How do you see the adoption of cryptocurrencies transforming traditional finance models?
Konstantin: In 2024, we’ve witnessed an unprecedented surge in the adoption of digital assets, far exceeding our initial expectations. Institutional players now have better-regulated market access to BTC and ETH through ETFs, which has fueled growth and maturation across the entire ecosystem. This has been evident in the heightened interest from new clients, impressive price performance, VC funding projections for 2025, and increased trading flows.
We’re seeing the market structure mature with the emergence of elements like prime-brokers, institutional-grade custody solutions, and ECNs, which are becoming increasingly significant.
However, as I often say, we’re still at the beginning of this journey. In the coming years, I anticipate more institutional players entering the space, driven by global demand, especially if the pro-crypto environment continues to thrive and regulatory clarity is achieved.
We’ve already observed meaningful progress in some areas, which will inevitably impact market models and structures. The long-term effects remain to be seen, but changes akin to the MiCA regulations are already altering stablecoin access for European players.
Additionally, I foresee Tier 2 and Tier 3 crypto exchanges facing liquidity challenges, which may prompt them to explore new broker-dealer business models or seek advanced technology and liquidity solutions to stay competitive.
FTI: Finery Markets operates in a tech-intensive domain. What technologies have been game-changers for your platform?
Konstantin: In the early stages of our journey, we were initially inclined to construct a trading infrastructure centered around a “maker-taker” model, similar to that of the FX market. This was in line with our vision of establishing a non-custodial marketplace tailored for institutions. The approach was designed to streamline access to crypto liquidity for businesses by seamlessly connecting them with licensed liquidity providers.
As our proof of concept successfully navigated real-market tests, we recognized the opportunity to pivot towards offering trading SaaS solutions. This shift was aimed at assisting brokers and OTC desks throughout the entire trade cycle, addressing their needs across front-, mid-, and back-office operations.
Last year marked a significant acceleration in Finery Markets’ evolution into a crypto-native SaaS technology provider for the trading industry. I believe this transition could be a pivotal moment for the future of our business. We launched a white-label solution specifically designed to empower OTC trading desks and brokers. This solution enables them to scale their operations swiftly, without the necessity of investing millions in building trading infrastructure from scratch. Basically, they can be up and running in just a matter of weeks, which translates to substantial savings in both time and development costs.
FTI: How do you balance integrating emerging technologies with ensuring a seamless user experience?
Konstantin: In the trading industry, there’s a unique beauty in the absence of one-size-fits-all solutions. This dynamic landscape allows technology and innovation to evolve alongside the ever-changing needs of clients. Our mission is to enhance the operations of institutional players in the crypto space, covering every stage of the cycle—from risk management and price discovery to execution methods and settlements.
What sets us apart from our peers is our pioneering hybrid ECN trading technology. We were the first in the market to introduce a “no last look” ECN, ensuring precise order matching with zero slippage. Last year, we further expanded our offerings by incorporating RFQ into our trading methods. This feature is particularly beneficial for large trades or assets that lack continuous pricing, allowing for either instant trades with guaranteed prices or the option to request custom quotes for trades of any size and asset type.
I believe that our model provides our customers with the best of both worlds. They gain the transparency and execution certainty of order-driven systems, combined with the deep liquidity and minimal market impact characteristic of quote-driven models. By maintaining a hybrid approach, we remain adaptive and continue to develop our expertise at the intersection of traditional finance and crypto, effectively balancing technological capabilities with institutional expectations at Finery Markets.
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FTI: What are Finery Markets’ most significant challenges in establishing credibility and trust in the global markets? What measures do you take to mitigate the risks associated with high volatility in cryptocurrency trading?
Konstantin: At the heart of our operations is a commitment to ensuring trust through robust technology. We’ve achieved a historical uptime of 99.99%, which is a testament to the reliability. On Finery Markets, our clients have the unique opportunity to engage with regulated or licensed counterparties, whether they’re operating in the EU, Asia, Latin America, or any other part of the world.
As a non-custodial trading SaaS provider, we take a distinct approach by not holding customer funds or acting as a buy/sell-side counterparty. Instead, our mission is to empower clients with advanced trading solutions that span the entire trading lifecycle—from pre-trade and trade execution to post-trade stages. For instance, our system allows clients to execute trades on a credit-screened basis, ensuring that risk limits are thoroughly checked before any trade is made. This capability enables clients to set customizable risk parameters, manage maximum exposure, establish bilateral limits, and determine collateralization levels or risk limits by assets. They can efficiently manage these across individual counterparties.
Our SaaS solution leverages ECN technology, offering clients the flexibility to customize liquidity pools, internalize customer flows, or resell global OTC liquidity without the burden of warehousing risk.
This setup is designed to minimize counterparty risks and equip market participants to operate effectively through various phases of market cycles.
Ultimately, these elements are fundamental to building and maintaining trust.
FTI: Security is a top concern for fintech users. How does Finery Markets address risks related to data breaches and fraud? How do you ensure Finery Markets effectively addresses institutional and retail investors’ needs?
Konstantin: The institutional surge was something we foresaw from the very beginning. When we started designing our trading infrastructure, we had the needs of institutional players in mind, anticipating that wider adoption was just a matter of time.
We built our systems accordingly, ensuring that we were ready for institutionalization well in advance. As a result, Finery Markets became the first crypto-native ECN to achieve both SOC 2 Type 1 certification in 2024 and Type 2 certification in 2025. These milestones were crucial for us, demonstrating our commitment to security and reliability, which are paramount for institutional clients.
According to a Deloitte report, the most common questions when deciding to use a crypto exchange platform to trade are: “Is our information secure?” and “How do you know?”. The SOC 2 certification addresses exactly these concerns.
To address the needs of scalability and security, we leverage a cloud-based AWS infrastructure for our trading servers. Operating in 35 countries, we are committed to ensuring that our policies and practices remain robust and scalable, even as we grow.
FTI: If you had to imagine the fintech landscape in 2030, what role would Finery Markets play?
Konstantin: Probably, the majority of assets in the world will be on-chain by then. Regulatory frameworks would have been in action for some years. Both factors would signal that the required heavy work was done, and crypto became institutionalized with core infrastructure in place.
It may sound a bit optimistic from a TradFi perspective, and definitely pessimistic from the crypto space viewpoint, which is accustomed to achieving in months what has taken years in FX or equities.
From any standpoint, Finery Markets will be the key technology provider for trading in the digital assets industry, so that TradFi or all-crypto institutions will be fully equipped to effectively seize the opportunities of the digital asset class.
FTI: As a leader, how do you foster innovation and agility within your team in a rapidly changing industry?
Konstantin: Frankly speaking, it’s the team’s ‘can-do’ mindset that has been pivotal in our ability to scale swiftly, align with market demands, and prioritize a robust infrastructure. These elements are the building blocks that empower us to navigate the 24/7 crypto market, with its fragmented structure and volatile dynamics.
From my standpoint as CEO, my role is to facilitate and preserve this dual perspective within our corporate culture. It’s about combining a startup mindset with an inventive ethos, all while maintaining high-quality standards across our procedures, policies, and products. This approach is essential to provide peace of mind for our growing network of institutional partners.
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FTI: Tell us about some of the top FinTech/other B2B events you’ll participate in (as a speaker or guest!) in 2025.
Konstantin: TOKEN2049, Consensus, and DAS.
FTI: Please tag a fintech leader or researcher you would like to be featured in the Fintech Top Voice interview series.
Konstantin: There are many strong leaders in the industry who offer deep and insightful perspectives on the market. It’s hard to choose just one. I’d highlight Benjamin Stephens (Cleartoken), Michael Higgins (Hidden Road Partners), Jack Yang (LTP), Frank Mikulitz (FXCH), and Mike Belshe (BitGo).
Thank you so much for sharing your insights on Fintech with us, Konstantin! We look forward to having you again at the FinTech Top Voice series.
