TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 has unveiled the Builders Stage agenda, designed to bring practical scaling strategies to more than 10,000 founders and startup operators. The event emphasizes actionable insights for companies navigating growth challenges.
For card-not-present merchants in iGaming, forex, and crypto on-ramps, scaling isn't just about user acquisition—it's about payments infrastructure that can handle volume, complexity, and regulatory scrutiny. Traditional PSPs often can't keep pace with high-risk verticals, leading to declined transactions, frozen accounts, and missed revenue. Direct acquiring combined with intelligent orchestration—like Flash AI routing across 40+ alternative payment methods and USDT settlement—turns payments from a bottleneck into a growth accelerator. Events like Disrupt highlight the need for operators to think beyond marketing funnels and focus on the financial rails that actually convert customers at scale.
As startups in these verticals mature, merchant-acquiring strategy becomes as critical as product-market fit. Virtual IBANs, multi-currency settlement, and adaptive payment orchestration aren't nice-to-haves—they're the infrastructure that separates sustainable growth from churn.
Read the full report at TechCrunch Fintech.