A few months ago, Payabl (formerly PowerCash21), a Cyprus-based payment processor founded by former Wirecard executives Ruediger Trautmann, Dietmar Knoechelmann, and Ayelet Fruchtlander Knoechelmann, led a CHF 3 million investment into the Swiss FINMA-regulated Klarpay AG. According to Similarweb statistics, Turkey has emerged as Klarpay’s most important market. While Klarpay is registered in Switzerland, key personnel are based in Cyprus, indicating that much of its operations may be coordinated from Cyprus. Furthermore, Klarpay appears to be a spin-off of BDSwiss, with many of its senior executives having previously worked for the CySEC-regulated broker. Key Data Klarpay’s Strong Ties to BDSwiss…
Author: Tom
Klarpay, a FINMA-regulated fintech, recently announced key milestones for Q3 2022, following an investment from the Payabl Group. Payabl, founded by former Wirecard executives Ruediger Trautmann, Dietmar Knoechelmann, and Ayelet Fruchtlander-Knoechelmann, has positioned itself as a major player in the high-risk payment processing sector. Among Klarpay’s latest achievements:✅ Became a Principal Member of the VISA network✅ Integrated Visa’s B2B Connect, enabling cross-currency outbound payments for business clients✅ Introduced Apple Pay Key Data The Klarpay-BDSwiss Connection 📌 Klarpay AG appears to be a spin-off of BDSwiss, an investment firm linked to Jan Eric Malkus. Several ex-BDSwiss executives now hold key positions…
According to Similarweb’s September 2022 statistics, Payabl (formerly PowerCash21) has seen a tenfold surge in website traffic during Q3 2022, skyrocketing from 15,000 to nearly 140,000 visitors. 📊 Traffic Breakdown:🔹 55%+ of visitors originate from porn sites🔹 35%+ of visitors come from gambling, betting, and lottery platforms With these numbers, Payabl appears to have effectively replaced the collapsed Wirecard as Germany’s leading high-risk payment processor, according to Similarweb analytics. Key Data A Legacy of High-Risk Payment Processing 📌 Payabl.cy Limited is a Cyprus-regulated payment institution, founded in Germany and Cyprus around 2010 under the name PowerCash21.📌 The company was established…
In 2021, when Commerzbank cut ties with the porn company Manwin, Wirecard was quick to step in. Despite former CEO Markus Braun’s attempts to downplay the connection, Wirecard had long been deeply embedded in the porn and gambling sectors. The German fintech gained prominence by catering to high-risk industries, even as Braun later tried to distance the company from its origins. A recent FinanceFWD report sheds new light on Wirecard’s long-standing involvement with the adult industry. Wirecard’s Hidden Mission Two years ago, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Markus Braun was asked whether porn and gambling had been his core…
A recent report from FinanceFWD, an online financial magazine, examined the porn industry clients of the now-collapsed German high-risk payment processor Wirecard. For years, Wirecard facilitated payments for MindGeek, the company behind major adult websites like PornHub and YouPorn. Today, former Wirecard executives Dietmar Knoechelmann and Ruediger Trautmann have positioned their German-Cyprus Payabl Group as one of the leading payment processors for the adult industry, according to Similarweb analytics. From Wirecard and PowerCash21 to Payabl The Payabl Group Payabl is a payment institution regulated by the Central Bank of Cyprus and operates as a principal member of VISA and MasterCard.…
As part of our Wirecard Legacy investigation, we have been researching high-risk payment processors catering to the porn industry. Wirecard was previously one of the key processors for the MindGeek empire, which owns YouPorn and PornHub. Additionally, major adult platforms like xHamsterLive and StripChat are operated by Technius Ltd, a company registered in Cyprus. One of the primary payment processors for these platforms is Epoch. We are looking for more information about its operations. Key Data Buying Porn Tokens with Epoch Epoch is a key payment facilitator for Technius Ltd. Platforms like StripChat and xHamsterLive are live cam sites attracting…
Until 2021, the Bank of Cyprus-regulated payment institution Payabl operated under the name PowerCash21. This high-risk payment processor, founded by former Wirecard executives Dietmar Knoechelmann and Ruediger Trautmann, specializes in porn, gambling, and online trading. According to Similarweb analytics, one of Payabl’s apparent clients is the offshore broker VT Markets. Notably, in August 2021, the Spanish regulator issued a warning against VT Markets. Payabl and VT Markets Similarweb Statistics for VT Markets Payabl appears to operate a hosted payment processing server under the subdomain:➡ https://pay4.powercash21.com Similarweb analytics show that nearly 18% of VT Markets’ 140,000+ monthly visitors access the website…
RoboForex is an offshore forex broker operated by RoboForex Ltd, a company registered in Belize under a license issued by FSC Belize. Despite being an offshore entity, the broker also accepts clients from EEA countries. RoboForex is essentially the offshore counterpart of RoboMarkets, a CySEC-regulated broker, and offers leverage of up to 1:1000. According to Similarweb statistics, the RoboForex website attracts over 1.4 million visitors per month, with the majority of traffic coming from Russia, Brazil, Germany, and the UK. Below is an initial review of the broker’s key details. Key Data Short Narrative In our November 9, 2022 review,…
As former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun awaits his trial in prison, scheduled for December 2022, the Wirecard successor Payabl is experiencing explosive growth. The German-Cypriot high-risk payment processor was founded by former Wirecard executives Dietmar Knoechelmann and Ruediger Trautmann. According to traffic analytics, Payabl’s website visitors surged from approximately 15,000 in July to over 306,000 in October 2022. This rapid expansion is primarily driven by porn industry clients such as xHamsterLive and StripChat. Payabl’s Performance on Similarweb Payabl’s business model strongly resembles that of the now-collapsed Wirecard, focusing on growth through high-risk industries such as porn, gambling, online trading, and…
YesOption was one of the notorious Israeli binary options scams operated by Diamond Global Ltd, registered in the Marshall Islands. Payment processing was handled through Global Online Solutions Ltd in the UK, with one of the payment processors being PowerCash21 (now Payabl), a Cyprus-regulated entity. In 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) placed YesOption on its red list. Today, YesOption.com claims to operate as a broker review platform and an introducing broker (IB) for companies like IQ Option and Olymp Trade. However, in reality, the website is largely non-functional. Broker links on the site do not work and…