A new investigation is once again dragging the YouTube sensation MrBeast to the center of the storm as the crypto investigator and YouTuber Coffeezilla has reportedly uncovered evidence that points to incidences of insider trading and market manipulation in the crypto space.

The investigator is known for exposing top scandals in the crypto space including those involving the former head of the crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Friend, the demised crypto project SafeMoon, and an alleged charitable crypto initiative called Save the Kids.

Coffeezilla Uncovers Suspicious Transactions Linked to MrBeast

In this new episode, Coffeezilla claims to have spotted a sophisticated web of crypto transactions and tokens being traded across 50 specific wallets tied to MrBeast’s team that appear to be used to pump the value of certain digital assets to their benefit.

Other investigators have joined his endeavors including SomaXBT and Loock.io, who also uncovered a systematic pattern of crypto trading that raises both legal and ethical concerns.

The most striking accusation made by Coffeezilla says that MrBeast may have earned $23 million by manipulating crypto prices since 2021.

The investigation points to a specific pattern that involves purchasing certain digital assets, using his massive fan base – consisting of over 325 million followers – to promote these cryptocurrencies and then sell them once the price skyrockets.

One case in particular involving the gaming NFT marketplace, SuperVerse, stands out. MrBeast reportedly received 1 million tokens in exchange for $100,000 as part of a pre-sale of the platform’s native token.

He managed to turn this investment into nearly $10 million by promoting the pre-sale among its fans.

“We have a wallet that both investigations traced to Mr Beast sending $100,000 to the presale wallet. We have the same wallet getting millions of these Super tokens in a period of unlocks which were almost all sold aggressively,” Coffeezilla stated in regard to this incident.

Other tokens named in the report include Eternity Chain, PolyChain Monsters, and SHOPX, all of which were also allegedly pumped by the YouTube celebrity and his team and then sold after they experienced price surges.

Coffeezilla is best known for its deep-dive investigations into cryptocurrency scams. In the case of MrBeast, he released a nearly 25-minute video detailing his findings. While he was careful enough to note that there’s “no concrete proof” of MrBeast’s direct involvement in the scheme, the investigator described the situation as “wrong, stupid, and unethical.”

Coffeezilla also highlighted potential insider trading involving other prominent YouTubers and crypto personalities, including KSI, LazarBeam, and Alex Becker. The similarities in their crypto trading activities have raised significant red flags among blockchain analysts.

You can check out Coffeezilla’s video, which breaks down his findings below.

MrBeast’s Team Denies His Involvement and Claims These Wallets are Managed by Third Parties

In response to these serious allegations, MrBeast’s representative, Matthew Hiltzik, issued a carefully worded statement. They claim that “these investments were made and managed in consultation with industry experts to ensure full compliance with all appropriate rules and regulations.”

Furthermore, they asserted that the wallet in question is not owned or managed by MrBeast himself but by a fund led by “respected and sophisticated managers.”

However, the legal ramifications of MrBeast’s links to these wallets could be substantial. In the crypto space, “pump and dump” schemes abound. This fraudulent methodology consists of artificially inflating the price of a digital asset by promoting it aggressively or manipulating the market by making trades from multiple wallets before dumping the coins on the market for a profit, crashing the coin’s price.

For low-liquidity assets (like most cryptos), it is easy to boost the price by executing a few high-value trades. In the case of MrBeast, his vast influence over millions of fans can be tapped on to raise the price of assets that have no intrinsic value by just endorsing them publicly.

If these allegations turn out to be true, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could open up a formal investigation into the trades.

Coffeezilla wasn’t the only crypto investigator to look into MrBeast. X user SomaXBT wrote up a thread detailing the suspicious activities that he found surrounding MrBeast’s wallets.

 

MrBeast is at the Center of Multiple Other Controversies

These accusations come to join a series of recent controversies surrounding MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson.

In October, he faced scrutiny over the launch of a kid’s meal called Lunchly. The popular YouTuber Rosanna Pansino revealed in a video viewed by over 2 million people that one of the meals she purchased was moldy.

Additionally, there have been allegations that a close collaborator to Donaldson, Ava Tyson, could have been grooming a minor. The incident prompted MrBeast to hire celebrity attorney Alex Spiro to investigate the matter and cut ties with Tyson momentarily.

“Seeing recent events we’ve mutually decided it’s best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast and social media to focus on my family and mental health,” Tyson wrote in an X post after these accusations became public.

All of these scandals, combined with these new allegations of insider trading, represent a serious threat to MrBeast’s reputation.

As a content creator known for his philanthropic efforts and massive viral stunts, these allegations of potential market manipulation could significantly damage his public image and the public’s perception of his trustworthiness.

These scandals are rippling through social media and his fanbase in particular but they are far from the only issues that the creator has faced. Check out our full breakdown of all of MrBeast’s major controversies to learn more.

Influencers Have a Huge Impact on the Crypto Market

These insider trading claims also raise questions about the role that influencers have in the cryptocurrency market.

There are laws in place to prevent this kind of behavior in traditional financial markets but given that the crypto space is still largely unregulated in the United States, tons of celebrities have managed to escape these accusations unharmed.

However, the SEC’s aggressive approach to punishing individuals who have intentionally defrauded the public has set enough of a precedent for it to open up a formal inquiry into Donaldson.

For investors, it is always a good idea to make sure that despite endorsements from public figures, digital assets are not necessarily safe or sound investment alternatives. Take any endorsements for cryptos or related projects from influencers with a grain of salt as their intentions are not always sound.

The crypto market is well known for its volatility, and the absence of clear regulations and well-defined enforcement responsibilities by financial regulators increases the risks of experiencing heavy losses by choosing to pour money into assets and projects that are not adequately registered or licensed to offer investment securities or financial assets in the United States.