A report from Loock Advising suggests that popular YouTuber MrBeast has conducted crypto/NFT insider trading. Through public endorsements and a network of secret wallets, he profited at least $23 million.
This common scam exists in a legal grey area, and the report doesn’t suggest any actual consequences.
MrBeast’s Crypto Connection
A new investigation from Loock Advising suggests that MrBeast, one of the world’s largest YouTube creators, has been quietly boosting sketchy crypto projects. In the past, he publicly warned his audience about the danger of online scams, adding a layer of hypocrisy to the story. Loock Advising alleged that MrBeast’s actions centered around insider trading and pump and dumps.
A core component of his operation is a vast web of secret wallets. This tactic has commonly been used in the past, allowing users to pump assets they secretly hold. MrBeast doxxed his own primary wallet address via a 2021 social media post. Investigators used this and on-chain data to map his broader network, revealing a wealth of hidden investments.
Read more: Crypto Social Media Scams: How to Stay Safe
Investigators then looked at several specific crypto projects that these wallets invested in. MrBeast would endorse these projects via social media, and several of his YouTube collaborators would frequently do the same. Even when some of these, like SuperVerse, proved to be legitimate projects, MrBeast consistently cashed out before major price crashes.
“We believe this is a result of insider trading because MrBeast has most of his focus set on his social media empire. Cryptocurrency investing takes time and focus, sorting out hundreds of potential investment opportunities. Rather than actively trading, MrBeast made several investments that paid off massively,” the investigation claimed.
Kasper Vandeloock, analyst at Loock Advising, alleged that MrBeast profited at least $23 million from these insider trading incidents. Vandeloock and colleagues tracked three years of activity and discovered that very few of these individual tokens/NFTs yielded more than $2 million. Instead, MrBeast chased consistent and low yields, which proved harder to track.
Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens
Ultimately, the reality is that some members of the crypto community don’t consider these actions unethical. This sort of crypto-based insider trading exists in a legal grey area, and MrBeast might not face consequences other than reputation. The report concludes with tongue-in-cheek “advice” for him, only suggesting cheaper token swap protocols than the ones he’d been using.
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