YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is accused of making over $10 million by promoting and then dumping low-cap cryptocurrency projects. The charges come after a detailed investigation.
According to information from crypto detective SomaXBT, MrBeast participated in multiple initial DEX offerings (IDOs) and token promotions, profiting significantly from the price increases of the tokens he endorsed.
Related projects include SuperFarm (SUPER), Polychain Monsters (PMON), SPLYT (SHOPX), and several others. Some tokens have dropped more than 90% in value since MrBeast left, demonstrating the âpump & dumpâ scheme.
Detailed investigation
SomaXBTâs investigation tracked MrBeastâs alleged activities using wallet data attributed to him on Arkham Intelligence. The detective pointed to multiple instances where MrBeast invested relatively small amounts of money in tokens through private transactions, and then made millions of dollars by selling them in public trading sessions that inflated their prices.
One such case is the SuperFarm (SUPER) token, a project backed by Elliot Trades. According to SomaXBT, MrBeast invested $100,000 in the project and received 1 million SUPER tokens. Following the investment, the tokenâs price skyrocketed. On March 30, 2021, MrBeast allegedly transferred his SUPER tokens to a secondary wallet and then sold them in a series of transactions, netting a total of 1,900 ETH (about $3.7 million at the time).
The detective also said that MrBeast received additional SUPER tokens through a transfer contract, and then resold them for $5.5 million, bringing the total income from the project to about $9 million.
The investigation also pointed to MrBeast's involvement in Polychain Monsters (PMON). In this case, he allegedly invested $25,000 and received 25,000 PMON tokens. On March 31, 2021, his wallet transferred these tokens to another wallet to sell and earned 685 ETH (about $1.3 million). The total income from this investment amounted to about $1.7 million.
Additionally, MrBeast is said to have invested $25,000 in SPLYT (SHOPX), which resulted in a $765,000 return after selling his allocation.
He also made $1.25 million from STAK tokens, although details of this transaction are not fully documented.
For Virtue Poker (VPP), MrBeast is said to have participated in a virtual poker tournament and received 600,000 VPP tokens, of which he sold 200,000 tokens and made a significant profit.
Consequences and ethics
SomaXBT highlighted the ethical implications of these transactions, arguing that MrBeastâs behavior was similar to pump and dump schemes, in which influencers promote low-cap tokens, drive up prices, and sell when prices peak, leaving retail investors to suffer losses when prices plummet.
The investigation also found significant price declines across many projects following MrBeastâs alleged sell-off. For example, the SUPER token is now down 75% from its peak, while tokens like PMON and SHOPX have suffered even greater losses, with some down more than 90%.
This is not a new phenomenon in the crypto space, especially this year, when many influencers such as Andrew Tate and Iggy Azalea were also found to be involved in market manipulation activities.
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