Business

Jobs That May be Under Your Radar

Published

3 years ago

September 29, 2022

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average worker can expect to sit nearly 45% of the work day. On the surface, that doesn’t sound so bad. However, what isn’t considered is the effect that having a college degree has on that percentage.

Despite lengthy research, there simply isn’t much data on how much people tend to sit at work if they have a college degree versus not having one. However, looking at specific occupations does show data.

Jobs including accounting, business, and tech tend to lead to workers sitting anywhere from 70-80% of the time.

In fact, with an exception to a few areas where a degree is required, most of the post-college workforce appears to be in a position where they spend most of their day at a desk.

For some, this is not an issue. For many others, it can lead to increased stress, dissatisfaction at work, weight gain, and a repetition of tasks that get old after a few days. So why do people continue to work in these environments? Part of it may be our tendency to follow the crowd, and college programs often funnel their graduates to these kinds of jobs.

What if someone wants to break away from the norm? There are certainly options, and here are just three of them.

Coaching

Coaching a sport can be one of the most satisfying and productive jobs that exist. On top of the satisfaction of helping athletes improve their skills, depending on the coach, it can also serve as a workout and a way to stay active.

This option can be especially good in unique sports such as rowing, pole vault, or Irish dance. Many potential clients/athletes may not know about these opportunities, but once word gets out, there may be a lot of interest. Moving up in these specific fields is much easier than trying to go the route of a football or basketball coach. If a rowing team is looking for a coach, and you’ve got the experience, you may end up in a small candidate pool for a great job.

Run an Excursion

Everyone loves excursions while on vacation. It’s a market that’s growing every year, and with the right equipment and skills, it’s very possible to have success here. The best part is that almost no matter where you go, the market will be there.

In a tourist area like Orlando, Florida, so many people go that despite a lot of excursion options, opportunity is still there. On the flip side, in a small town in Kansas, the market may be small, but there won’t be any competition.

The key is to be unique. If close to a desert, a dune buggy adventure will catch a lot of people’s attention. If there are already a lot of those excursions available, have a romantic candlelight dinner under the stars. The possibilities are endless. If you decide that you want an excursion that will keep you up on your feet and active, that’s totally up to you.

Start a Business

Starting a company can be stressful and overwhelming, especially with zero experience. One key is to utilize resources and not pretend that you know how to do everything. Just as you wouldn’t have a plumber frame a house, a dentist perform brain surgery, or an engineer file your taxes, running everything for your business alone will likely not be successful.

Odds are, you may be able to do the business part, but utilizing resources for other areas can help make a business successful.

What does this have to do with not sitting all day? Similar to the excursion idea, starting your own business means choosing your hours, and the work style. You may decide that 7-10 AM is a great time to do all the paperwork and desk-related tasks, take a break from 10-11 AM, and then spend 11-4 PM doing active tasks related to the business. You can decide to work late at night and keep the mornings open.

With few exceptions, a self-business allows you to work when, where, and how you want.

Business

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

Published

11 hours 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.