Tag: Michael Gastauer

In its Q3 2025 results communication, Black Banx describes itself as a “global digital banking and fintech platform” offering “borderless banking services,” including multi-currency accounts, cross-border payments, and “cryptocurrency-compatible solutions,” allegedly serving clients in 180+ countries and reporting a period-end customer base of ~92 million.

Following German media reporting about investigations into Michael Gastauer and the Black Banx “banking” narrative, FinTelegram conducted a limited, hands-on product review as an EU-based private customer. The result: two “current accounts” (EUR/GBP) were opened with minimal friction, but the onboarding, disclosures, and entity/licensing transparency raise immediate questions under EU, UK, and U.S. financial-services rules.

German public-broadcaster reporting has linked financial entrepreneur Michael Gastauer—known for the WB21/Black Banx storyline—to a large-scale law-enforcement raid in Bavaria. While official details remain scarce, the case raises a hard compliance question: How can globally marketed “banking” narratives, cross-border payment claims, and opaque structures persist without transparent supervisory answers?

Self-proclaimed German FinTech billionaire Michael Gastauer has long suffered from an addiction to portraying himself as big and powerful. Over the past decades, he has built a payment scheme with a network of companies and brands through which funds from illegal transactions were also laundered. He is active with Black Banx, which reportedly has over 20 million customers and would be worth $50 billion. There is virtually nothing that can be verified.

The self-proclaimed German fintech billionaire Michael Gastauer is your man for fantastic stories. Whether they are somehow linked to reality remains to be seen. FinTelegram has already fought many battles with Michael Gastauer in some reality checks. On December 19, 2022, the Black Banx of Gasterauer sent out a fantastic press release. They now had 20 million customers, and one million accounts were being opened per month. Strangely, Similarweb somehow doesn't see that!?

The German Michael Gastauer is the founder of Black Banx and mastermind of a high-risk payment processor network. In April 2022, the U.S. SEC obtained a final judgment against Gastauer. He was ordered to pay over $17 million for facilitating in international fraud scheme. Gastauer is a public person and loves to present himself as a Fintech billionaire while providing no evidence for this claim. TikTok users have started to present Gastauer's public life in a mini-series on TikTok. Have fun:

The UK FCA withdraw a warning against the Black Banx scheme for the UK market as "the FCA accepts that Black Banx was not trading unlicensed in the UK." This is good news for Black Banx and its founder Michael Gastauer. The bad news, however, is that the U.S. SEC obtained a final judgment against the German Gastauer "for facilitating a multi-million dollar international fraud scheme" that generated more than $165 million of illegal sales of stock on the U.S. markets. Gastauer is ordered to pay over $17 million. Gastauer and Black Banx strictly deny the allegations and have issued the following statement:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained a final judgment against Michael Gastauer, the German founder of the Black Banx scheme, for his role in an international scheme that generated more than $165 million of illegal sales of stock on the U.S. markets in at least 50 microcap companies. He is ordered to pay over $17 million. In 2018, the SEC charged Gastauer and six of his US-based entities with aiding and abetting a vast securities fraud scheme orchestrated by UK citizen Roger Knox.

German Michael Gastauer is a hustler on the gray and black side of the financial market. Not coincidentally, his latest company is called Black Banx (previously WB21) and promises to get bank accounts for individuals and merchants accounts in over 180 countries in minutes. On LinkedIn and its website, Black Banx claims to have 8 million customers and $10 billion in monthly transaction volume. We doubt the figures of this high-risk and dark side payment processor. The UK FCA has issued a warning against Black Banx.

German prosecutors have not yet brought charges against the crypto-fraud scheme OneCoin and its principals, but are now taking action against the German payment processors involved. This is a somewhat strange approach and legally contestable. The public prosecutor's office in Bielefeld has brought charges against three people for money laundering for the OneCoin scam. which is not yet legally binding. German payment processors processed more than €360 million for the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.

Until recently, Germany had a good reputation in the financial sector although its banking industry has significant structural problems. All the more reason to be proud of Wirecard. The DAX-listed German fintech managed by the two Austrians Markus Braun and Jan Marsalek seemed to be the superstar in the booming market of next-generation payment processors. Until it collapsed. But there are several dubious German fintechs and payment processors that are active in the worldwide cybercrime scene. Michael Gastauer and his group of companies should be mentioned here.

On January 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the British citizen Roger "Rocket" Knox, 49, founder and operator of Swiss asset management firm Wintercap pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. His co-conspirators Matthew Ledvina, Milan Patel and Morrie Tobin have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing. According to the U.S. regulator SEC, Knox's scheme used Michael Gastauer's Black Banx (previosly "WB21") group of companies to launder the scheme's illicit proceeds. Knox was arrested in October 2018 and remains in custody until the scheduled sentencing the court ordered.