Austria FMA warns of offshore broker Blackstone500

Austria’s financial regulator Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA) has issued a warning regarding offshore FX and crypto broker Blackstone500.

Blackstone500, operating website blackstone500.com, claims that it operates in Zurich, Switzerland at Prime Tower, Hardstrasse 201, 8005 Zürich. However we understand that it is not actually located there, and is not registered nor licensed in Switzerland. The company shows a UK VoIP based phone number as a contact telephone, +442036770120.

The FMA also noted that Blackstone500 is not entitled to carry out transactions in Austria that require a licence. Apparently the company has been targeting retail traders in German speaking countries, including Austria.

If the name Blackstone500 sounds familiar, it is because it is (obviously) a play on the US-based investment firm Blackstone, one of the world’s largest asset managers. Blackstone invests across alternative asset classes on behalf of pension funds and other leading institutions.