In a recent LinkedIn post, Linas Beliūnas discusses the impending obsolescence of traditional document-based identity verification methods, highlighting the significant risks and limitations they pose in the age of advanced AI and synthetic identities. Beliūnas argues that the long-standing practice of verifying users through passport photos and selfies is rapidly becoming a liability, particularly with the rise of sophisticated AI capable of generating photorealistic fakes.
Beliūnas points out the foundational weakness in current verification systems, stating:
“We built online identity verification on a process that a border officer would reject on sight. A photograph of a document designed for in-person checks. Duct-taped onto the internet.”
The AI Threat to Traditional Verification
The core of Beliūnas’s argument centers on the vulnerability of current identity verification processes to AI-driven manipulation. He explains that by 2026, AI models will be able to break down these methods in mere seconds. These advanced models can create synthetic identities that clear onboarding processes and generate deepfakes convincing enough to fool both humans and algorithms. This poses a significant challenge for businesses that have relied on these methods for years.
As Linas Beliūnas notes, the current paradigm has been widely accepted:
“Banks trusted it. Fintechs scaled on it. Regulators accepted it.”
However, this trust is misplaced, according to Beliūnas, as the technology has outpaced the security of the verification methods. He elaborates on the capabilities of modern AI:
“With a single reference image, today’s models generate: → Photorealistic faces that pass liveness checks → Synthetic identities that clear onboarding flows → Deepfakes that fool both humans and algorithms”
The Shift to Cryptographic Proof and Digital Wallets
Beliūnas emphasizes that the era of relying on visual trust from document photographs is drawing to a close. He highlights the global shift towards more robust identity solutions, citing the implementation of eIDAS 2.0 in Europe and the projected widespread adoption of Digital Identity Wallets. According to Beliūnas, by 2030, 80% of EU citizens are expected to carry such wallets, and key institutions like banks, insurers, and telecoms will be mandated to accept them.
From Visual Trust to Cryptographic Certainty
This transition signifies a fundamental change from visual verification to cryptographic proof. Beliūnas outlines this shift as moving towards identities that are:
- Government-verified, not self-declared
- Digitally signed, not photographed
- Selectively disclosed, not over-shared
This move towards digital identity wallets and cryptographic verification offers enhanced security and privacy, moving away from the insecure practice of sharing sensitive documents through unencrypted channels.
The Infrastructure Challenge
Despite the clear direction towards digital identity solutions, Beliūnas identifies a significant, often overlooked, infrastructure problem: the fragmentation of eID schemes. With over 150 different eID schemes globally, each with its own standards and specifications, integrating them individually is a monumental task. Beliūnas likens this to the pre-Visa era of payment processing, where disparate systems made interoperability a nightmare.
He concludes by introducing Hopae as a solution to this problem, aiming to provide a single integration point for over 100 government-backed digital identity schemes worldwide. This network layer, as Beliūnas describes it, is essential for building the new identity infrastructure required in a post-KYC world threatened by deepfakes and AI manipulation.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Linas Beliūnas on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on May 20, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →