Conversation with Zak Manhire, CEO of Mint

 1- The current narrative says that iGaming has “returned to investors’ radar.” Is that really the case, or is it just conference talk?

 I think that framing is too simplistic. Capital is still primarily chasing AI. That is obvious and probably correct. What is really changing is not investor sentiment toward iGaming as a sector, but the criteria.

 For a long time, the crypto market rewarded narrative: new primitives, infrastructure, ideas that could scale theoretically but did not generate real revenue. iGaming never fit that mold—it generates real activity from day one. Users deposit, play, and either return or they don’t. There is nothing abstract about it.

 Now that the market has become more selective and many narrative-driven projects have failed to deliver, the fundamentals that iGaming has always had are starting to look more attractive: recurring usage, direct monetization, measurable retention. In crypto, finding those three things in a single product is still relatively rare.

 But I would not overstate it either. Most crypto casinos are still built the same way: same white-label backend, same game providers, same acquisition model based on launching bonuses and hoping for results. The sector has good fundamentals.

 2- What is actually broken in the way most crypto casinos operate?

 The model is not broken in the sense that it does not make money, because it does. The problem is that it is not evolved.

 The standard approach is: acquire the user, push them to deposit, bombard them with promotions, hope they come back, and if they don’t, push CRM. That works to a point, but it creates a type of business that permanently depends on acquisition spend and generous promotions to sustain itself.

 Promotions are the product. If you remove them, the user has no reason to stay, because the experience is identical across a thousand other platforms. It is a fragile model. It means your margins are always under pressure from the next operator willing to offer a bigger bonus, and that your users have no loyalty because the only thing they can be loyal to is the size of the welcome offer.

 3- So how would a structurally different approach look?

 It starts with a simple question: where is the user progressing toward?

 In most platforms, the answer is: nowhere. You deposit, you play, you win or lose, and the session ends. There is no accumulation, no status, no compounding benefits for being a long-term user.

 We built Mint with a progression-centric architecture: every bet, every interaction generates XP. That XP takes you through a 21-level system, with 7 main levels and 3 sublevels each. As you progress, you unlock real benefits: rakeback, lossback, increased daily rewards, access to exclusive content, and better economic conditions.

 The key point is that these are not random promotions. They are fixed rules, with defined limits, embedded in the system’s architecture. The user knows exactly what they are progressing toward and what they get.

 That changes the relationship. It is no longer transactional—it is cumulative. And we built it from scratch. Mint is not a white-label with a token added on top. The progression logic, rewards engine, and leveling system are proprietary. Because if your differentiation sits in the core of the product, you cannot outsource it.

 4- You mention multiple products: casino, sports betting, prediction markets, a Telegram app. Why not focus on just one?

 Because the rewards engine is the product, not each vertical individually.

 It is a progression economy with multiple entry points. The casino is the fastest hook: low barrier, quick outcomes. Sports betting builds habit. Prediction markets attract more strategic users. The Telegram mini app reduces friction: it allows users to learn the rewards system without needing to deposit money.

 All these environments feed the same XP system, the same levels, and the same rewards engine. The user does not start from zero when switching verticals. Their progress accumulates across the entire ecosystem. That is very different from a platform that offers slots and sports betting as isolated compartments under the same logo.

 5- There is a lot of talk about prediction markets and “trader-like” formats. What is interesting about them from a product perspective?

 What is interesting is not the format itself, but what it reveals about user psychology.

 Traditional casinos are quite passive: you decide, the outcome happens, and the session ends. Prediction markets introduce continuous interaction: you choose, adjust, analyze.

 The user feels that their decisions matter within a dynamic system. That changes behavior: longer sessions, higher interaction frequency, and better retention rates.

It also attracts a different type of user: crypto natives, market users, competitive profiles who enjoy positioning rather than pure chance.

 For us, it is not about following trends, but about understanding that our users think in terms of risk management, timing, and positioning. Designing products aligned with that psychology is a retention decision, not a content decision.

 6- You are transparent in saying Mint is in an early stage. What does that mean in practice?

 It means we are live, but at a very early stage. There will be imperfections. Features still in development. A user experience that is not yet final. That is what it means to build proprietary technology instead of buying a finished product and branding it.

 I prefer that over having a polished but generic product. The opportunity is not to look finished from day one, but to build something structurally better—and that requires time, iteration, and launching even when everything is not perfect.

 Before launch, we ran private testing with over 400 industry professionals: founders, executives, growth experts… to get real feedback, not hype. That is how you build a solid product.

 7- What is the market still misunderstanding about this category?

 It is still seen too narrowly.

 Crypto iGaming is perceived as a story of betting, or tokens, or affiliate marketing and promotions. But the most interesting platforms are evolving into hybrid models: entertainment, progression, competition, rewards, and community.

 The category is converging. The lines between prediction markets, social gaming, PvP mechanics, creators, and tokenized participation are blurring. Users do not just want to bet and leave. They want interaction, feedback, status, progression, and a reason to come back that is not just another bonus. The winners will be the platforms that understand that. Not those with the most aggressive promotions, but those that build the best systems.