According to a group of on-chain investigators, MrBeast and members of his YouTube influencer circle allegedly profited millions of dollars from shady crypto deals.
With 320 million YouTube subscribers, James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, is one of the most prominent social media personalities in the world. Its massive platform has served as a marketing channel for ambitious and sometimes controversial crypto projects.
Experts from consultancy Loock.io and blockchain analysts like SomaXBT, who previously accused Donaldson of making $10 million from small-cap tokens, claim MrBeast exploited his influence to profit from insider trading.
The findings suggest a long history of insider trading, misleading investors and using his influence to promote the tokens, only to dump them on the market.
Loocke Research Paper
The researchers, citing on-chain data, identified around 50 wallets linked to the YouTube personality. MrBeast has already disclosed his Ethereum (ETH), like when he bought a CryptoPunk during the 2021 non-fungible token wave.
This disclosure allowed observers to link additional wallets to MrBeast’s network. Multiple addresses also shared the same Gemini exchange deposit address, confirming the YouTuber’s control over where the funds went.
MrBeast’s Best Earner
SuperVerse, formerly known as SuperFarm, was one of MrBeast’s biggest earners from various projects, according to Loock’s document.
The project proposed an initial coin offering, a cryptographic term for selling tokens at lower prices in order to raise funds. MrBeast and his network have promoted the protocol on platforms like X and YouTube. Although he has since deleted many promotional posts, MrBeast still follows the SuperVerse page.
The value of SuperVerse’s coin jumped 50 times after its listing, but early investors faced restrictions due to legal loopholes. However, MrBeast and his social media associates, including KSI, allegedly profited from selling tokens to SuperVerse supporters.
Loock said MrBeast initially invested $100,000 in SuperVerse, bringing in around $7.5 million. The influencer and his network reportedly earned $10 million, representing nearly half of the total value Donaldson’s circle allegedly earned from promoting controversial crypto projects.
Many mainstream celebrities got into Web3, but the deals often ended in ghost coins and unsuccessful ventures for home users. The “celebrity claw” of this cycle, as crypto natives say, largely occurred on Solana (GROUND) with memecoins as the SOL ecosystem benefited of increased activity.
Popular figures launched 30 SOL meme coins in June alone. Like crypto.news noteMost celebrity projects fizzled out quickly after launching.