A new investigation is accusing YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson of cryptocurrency misconduct, adding to a growing list of recent controversies. A team of digital investigators, led by crypto analyst Kasper Vanderloock, has published findings on Loock.io linking Donaldson to over 50 cryptocurrency wallets with transactions totaling approximately $23 million.
The investigation claims Donaldson engaged in insider trading and used his influence to promote tokens before dumping them on the market. According to the Loock team, Donaldson repeatedly invested large sums in cryptocurrency projects during their pre-sale periods, achieving unusually high returns. The investigators point out that Donaldson’s success rate was particularly suspicious for someone who isn’t a full-time crypto trader.
“Cryptocurrency investing takes time and focus, sorting out hundreds of potential investment opportunities to find the right projects to invest in,” they wrote. “With MrBeast’s track record of consistently hitting large returns whilst being a full-time content creator and owning various businesses, there is an extremely high likelihood that his success in cryptocurrency investing is not the result of sharp trading intuition but just knowing insider information, particularly related to upcoming brand deals and partnerships within his network, including figures like KSI, GaryVee, and LazarBeam.”
The research team, which includes analysts SomaXBT, hxnterson, angelfacepeanut, and rfparson, has mapped what they call Donaldson’s “hive of wallets” dating back to 2021, beginning with his NFT purchases. Their investigation suggests Donaldson maintained relationships with founders of various emerging crypto projects and made substantial investments in schemes he publicly endorsed.
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The team specifically highlights connections to figures like KSI, GaryVee, and LazarBeam within his network, suggesting these relationships provided access to insider information about upcoming brand deals and partnerships.
While the investigation presents extensive documentation, including charts, screenshots, and evidence of Donaldson’s relationships with crypto entrepreneurs, the findings appear somewhat challenging to comprehend. Gizmodo described it as “a mess of charts, graphs, and long strings of numbers” that “requires a working knowledge of cryptocurrency to decipher,” while Protos pointed to how the investigation relied too much on ambiguous phrases like “we believe,” “a strong indicator,” “they may have had insider information,” and “highly likely to have lost their money.”
Allegations stacking up
These allegations emerge amid other controversies surrounding the 25-year-old YouTuber. Donaldson faces a lawsuit from contestants of his upcoming Amazon show “Beast Games,” a Squid Games-inspired competition offering a $5 million prize, with participants alleging mistreatment and sexual harassment during production.
Related: YouTube Star MrBeast Orders Internal Investigation Amid Controversies
His snack brand Lunchly, launched in partnership with Logan Paul and KSI, has also recently received 10 FDA complaints about moldy cheese products.
On top of it all, YouTuber Rosanna Pansino, who’s been trying to “expose” Donaldson since at least last year, published a seven-minute video on X claiming to have contacted the FBI regarding a Telegram channel allegedly containing inappropriate content from a MrBeast company work chat.
Donaldson, who told TIME magazine earlier this year that he doesn’t have access to any of his bank accounts and leaves money management to his mother and CFO, has not responded to requests for comment about the crypto allegations.
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