Business

Creating milestones in the e-commerce space is Mohammad Edris Hashimi, aka Idrees kickz with his brand Woiair

Published

5 years ago

October 31, 2020

The teenager businessman from Canada suggests a few essential entrepreneurial skills that he believes can help other entrepreneurs attain success.

There is a certain category of youngsters who follow the crowd, understand what is in trend and then take decisions about their career. And, then there is another category that involves people who are modern-day rebels and the ones who only believe in creating opportunities for themselves. It is rare to find youngsters from the latter category, but we came across one such youngster who is impressing everyone with his skills and talents as a sneaker entrepreneur; he is Mohammad Edris Hashimi, aka Idrees kickz from Canada who is excelling at the e-commerce game and how.

Right from starting his career at the age of 13 with buying and selling stuff online, understanding the market trends of the e-commerce world and learning newer things each day, to initiating his own brand called “Woiair” and becoming a multi-figure earning successful entrepreneur at 19 years is all that Idrees kickz about and much more. The youngest Canadian e-commerce entrepreneur with his passion in sneaker reselling business has proved his mettle in the industry and inspired youngsters all across the globe to believe in themselves and listen to what their heart seeks.

Currently, after graduating from high school, Idrees kickz is excited to learn business program from the university and apply the knowledge in his business to expand his brand and its opportunities for more growth and success.

There are a few entrepreneurial skills that Idrees kickz believes other budding entrepreneurs must emphasis on to achieve all their business goals.

Customer service skills: For any entrepreneur in this world, the quality of the products/services should be of utmost importance. One must focus on listening to what the customers need and provide them with the best customer service by giving attention to their demands.
Time management: Only putting the focus on any one aspect of carrying business is not a good idea, point out Idrees kickz. He says a skilled entrepreneur must know how to manage time, and accordingly focus on all the aspects of carrying out business activities and responsibilities successfully.
Networking skills: With the advent of the digital world and the growth of the e-commerce space, entrepreneurs are aware of the incredible reach they can have across mediums. For this, Idrees kickz says they need to have proper networking skills for spreading the word about their brand across social media platforms and optimizing the mediums to create more collaboration as well as generate more sales.

From his early days, Idrees kickz always drew inspiration from business personalities like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as he feels his story is similar to them as he too has been working incessantly to make it huge in the business world. Currently, Idrees kickz is working to fulfill his business goals, which includes opening a huge sneaker store in Toronto and LA and collaborating for designing shoes with brands like Adidas and Nike.

The 19-year-old Canadian businessman is living his dream and inspiring other youngsters as well all over the world with his self-made success story. Follow Idrees kickz on social media platforms like YouTube/Twitter/TikTok/Instagram/Facebook @idreeskickz.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.