Business

Frankie Lee – Restoring Reputations

Published

5 years ago

October 25, 2020

The internet has often been called an information superhighway. Through its networks, all sorts of data, ideas, and media are shared, replicated, and transferred in real time to billions of users around the world. By utilizing these capabilities, the internet has allowed us to communicate, transact, and interact with anyone around the world at any given time.

Aside from the speed and ease of internet activity, it is also able to amplify information by exposing it to a worldwide audience. When information becomes present on the internet, it more often than not becomes a part of public domain. Compounding this, the internet can disseminate knowledge at a breakneck pace never before seen in human history. When information becomes ‘viral’ on the internet, its spread becomes almost impossible to contain. Depending on the content, it can become even more like a virus, in that it becomes very virulent, dealing severe and long-lasting damage to those involved.

With widespread anonymity and little regulation, the roads of the information superhighway can often serve less as its utopian vision of free information and intercourse and more of a savage, lawless wasteland akin to ‘Mad Max.’ For anyone who engages in the internet, external threats can come in the form of hackers, scammers, and malicious groups or individuals that create and spread misinformation, either to achieve a specific goal or simply for the joy of spreading chaos. Threats can also come from within, with mistakes made even in the distant past being brought back to life, taken out of context, and amplified beyond a reasonable extent. Those in the spotlight, like companies, celebrities, and even smaller individuals, are all exposed to such dangers on a regular basis.

This explains the growing popularity of online reputation management (ORM) firms, which serve to clean, cultivate, and maintain their clients’ online reputations. In contrast to more traditional forms of PR, ORM has the added challenge of having to cope with the pace and the power of the internet. ORM firms have to react to threats before they spread and multiply on the World Wide Web, where they can quickly reach uncontrollable levels.

Established by former professional boxing trainer Frankie Lee, Content Removal distinguishes itself from the pack of similar firms by specializing in more advanced stages of ORM. The company specializes in its namesake, being able to remove potentially-damaging content from the largest social media websites, search engines, and review hosting sites. Google, Facebook, Bing, Instagram, and Twitter are just a few of the sites the company is able to purge of unwanted content. Beyond its specialty, Content Removal also provides content monitoring, brand protection, and reputation management services to serve as proactive measures of maintaining their clients’ reputations. Due to its quality of service and affordable rates, Content Removal has been the go-to ORM firm for big name brands like SWEAT and Saski, as well as celebrities like Australian of the Year nominee Brinkley Davies.

Content Removal’s success has always been rooted in its core values and motivation of giving people the right to control their own online reputations. Founder Frankie Lee cites one moment early in the company’s history, helping Dutch police take down a server hosting illicit pornography of thousands of people without their consent, as one of the company’s shining moments. Frankie hopes to further expand Content Removal so that he may help more people and increase his positive impact on the world.

Toward this goal, Frankie also developed Removed.ai, which aims to help aggrieved content creators, from large companies to individuals, take down instances of copyright misuse and piracy. Frankie also hosts The Frankie Lee Podcast, his personal avenue for helping others on their road to personal, professional, and entrepreneurial development. Frankie hopes that his podcast will give others the same winning mindset that drove him to the heights of success.

You can also learn more about Frankie Lee, his podcast, and his companies through his Instagram at @Frankielee, or by visiting his website.

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.