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…
Author: Tom
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…
The long-awaited Wirecard trial officially began on December 8, 2022. The central question: Who is truly responsible for the scandal? Key figures in the courtroom include Markus Braun, Wirecard’s founder and former CEO, Oliver Bellenhaus, managing director of Wirecard Dubai, and Stephan von Erffa, the former head of accounting. The prosecution alleges that Braun and his associates ran Wirecard as a criminal enterprise. The court has scheduled 100 days of hearings, which will take place in an underground courtroom in Munich. Key Trial Information The Charges & The Trial At the heart of the indictment is Wirecard’s Third-Party Acquiring (TPA)…
VT Markets is an Australian multi-asset broker regulated by ASIC. Additionally, it operates offshore entities in South Africa and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. However, VT Markets lacks authorization to provide financial services in EEA jurisdictions. Despite this, nearly 40% of its website visitors originate from EEA countries, including Italy, France, and Switzerland. The Spanish regulator (CNMV) has already issued a warning against this offshore broker. A substantial portion of VT Markets’ customer deposits appears to be processed through the Cyprus-based high-risk payment processor Payabl, using its PowerCash21 gateway. Here’s the latest update. VT Markets Update Until Q2 2022, VT…