By Frank, PANews

Mr. Beast (Chinese: 兽先生) is a top-tier global influencer. With over 440 million YouTube subscribers, he has built a channel centered around generosity, extreme challenges, and massive prizes. From remastering the game "Squidward Simulator" to paying for blind surgeries for thousands of blind people, Mr. Beast's public persona is viewed by countless fans as the embodiment of generosity and kindness.

However, beyond the glamorous video content, a parallel world quietly operates—the high-risk, high-reward world of cryptocurrency. Here, MrBeast's reputation takes on a different character. On-chain detectives and investigative reports from the crypto community portray MrBeast as a shrewd investor who is accused of leveraging his unparalleled influence to engage in a series of alleged "pump and dump" token operations, profiting tens of millions of dollars from the frenzy of his followers.

So, what's the truth? Is this world-renowned influencer truly exploiting the trust of his fans to profit? How extensive is his crypto portfolio, and what are the staggering scale of his profits? PANews will delve deeper, attempting to uncover MrBeast's controversial side in the crypto world.

The investment journey of top influencers, starting with NFT and making millions

Analysis of on-chain activity shows that MrBeast's wallet address dates back to June 2020, with initial activity primarily focused on staking DeFi projects. While DeFi staking has become a common practice in the crypto industry today, a return to 2020 reveals this activity was highly advanced.

This leading position was further demonstrated by the operation of CryptoPunks. In October 2020, MrBeast's address began purchasing multiple CryptoPunks NFTs, with each costing between $1,400 and $4,850. This was the eve of CryptoPunks's official and frantic rise in value.

In February 2021, MrBeast announced his purchase of eight CryptoPunks NFTs, bringing his total to over a dozen, including previous purchases. Coupled with the widespread interest in CryptoPunks from celebrities and sports stars, the price of CryptoPunks skyrocketed. By August, MrBeast began selling some of his NFTs, with the highest-priced one, CryptoPunk #7200, fetching 120 ETH, equivalent to approximately $389,500 USD at the time. This single NFT brought him over $380,000 in profit compared to his initial $2,166 purchase price, a 178-fold increase.

Of course, this is just a microcosm of MrBeast's NFT operations. The initial purchase of four CryptoPunks alone ultimately generated a profit of over $1 million. On-chain traces show that this address has conducted hundreds of NFT operations alone.

It can be said that MrBeast's NFT venture was his first foray into the crypto space, and it was one of the few crypto operations he was willing to publicly acknowledge. However, it was precisely this high profile during this period that left behind a wallet address clue that could be verified on the chain.

After generating initial profits through NFT trading, this marked “primary wallet” began to demonstrate a sophisticated operation pattern far beyond that of an average retail investor. On-chain data shows that funds and tokens did not simply remain in the primary wallet, but were systematically distributed to a vast network of over 50 secondary wallets.

This sophisticated multi-wallet structure shows that it is not MrBeast's personal transactions on a whim, but an organized and planned professional team behind it.

MrBeast's profit machine: the secret to a fortune exceeding $23 million

If NFT investment is just the beginning of MrBeast's crypto journey, then the subsequent series of altcoin investments truly reveals how he converts influence into amazing profits.

Of all the investments, SuperVerse was undoubtedly the most profitable and controversial. With an initial pre-sale investment of just $100,000, the operation ultimately generated an estimated profit of $11.45 million, a hundredfold return.

According to leaked chat logs, MrBeast pledged $100,000 to the project’s presale. In return, he secured an early private placement share at a rock-bottom price of just $0.02 per token, which was unattainable for ordinary investors.

After the token's public offering, MrBeast began leveraging his immense social media influence to promote the product. On May 12, 2021, after the project founder posted a tweet about market opportunities, MrBeast responded with a single word: "super?" This seemingly casual interaction was a strong bullish signal to his tens of millions of followers.

The most controversial moment occurred. On-chain data shows that on the day MrBeast posted his promoted tweet and in the following 72 hours, the wallet network associated with him initiated and continued a massive sell-off. In the three days following the tweet alone, approximately $200,000 worth of $SUPER tokens were sold. Over the following months, as the token's price soared over 50-fold due to the celebrity's influence, the wallet network systematically liquidated nearly all of its holdings through as many as 751 transactions, converting the massive paper gains into tangible profits.

In the end, when enthusiastic retail investors took over at high prices, the price of $SUPER token plummeted by more than 90%, leaving many fans who followed MrBeast's signals to enter the market with nothing.

The success of MrBeast is not an isolated case, but part of his systematic investment strategy. The same model has been replicated in many other projects. Many projects such as Ethernity Chain and Polychain Monsters have MrBeast or his team behind them.

According to Lookonchain, MrBeast's address revenue may have exceeded $23 million during this period. Compared to other influencers who have crossed over into the crypto space, MrBeast is one of the most successful.

The Mystery of Wallet Ownership: Funds, Denials, and Blame

With the revelation of his massive profits, MrBeast's public image began to suffer an unprecedented blow. The former philanthropist was now labeled a "fan-harvesting" and "insider trading" Under immense public pressure, MrBeast and his team launched a series of public relations operations aimed at distancing themselves from the scheme, leaving the true ownership of the wallet and the identity of its operator in limbo.

In 2024, facing increasing community outcry and clear operational details on the chain, MrBeast had to face the anger from the crypto world.

MrBeast did not deny the connection between the wallets, but simply attributed the improper operations to a crypto fund. He claimed: "These investments are made and managed in consultation with industry experts to ensure full compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. The wallet is not owned or managed by Jimmy, but by a fund led by a respected and experienced manager. The fund closely evaluates and reviews hundreds of opportunities, resulting in multiple investments."

In short, these wallets are connected to me, but I don't operate them. However, this ambiguous attitude of admitting but not fully acknowledging them hasn't been forgiven by the community. Rumors of MrBeast's involvement in scams and insider trading have surfaced with every one of his transactions.

By September 2025, MrBeast's wallet address was once again buying the popular ASTER token. As of October 1st, MrBeast had spent $1.68 million on 950,000 ASTER tokens. This move once again sparked community speculation that he was about to "call a buy." However, this time, MrBeast's response was unexpected. In response to the community discussion, he publicly denied the investment, stating that he had "never heard of this coin" and that "that wasn't his wallet."

This direct and complete denial fundamentally contradicts the previous claim that the fund was "managed by a fund." It also sparked new speculation within the community: either MrBeast was lying, or the "fund management" was indeed being run by a third party, without his knowledge.

Regardless of which scenario is true, it's undeniable that these projects were promoted directly or indirectly with the help of, or even by, him. As for the actual situation? Perhaps the "fund management" theory is more reliable.

After all, past evidence has proven MrBeast's connection to this wallet address. It's just that for a billionaire and entrepreneur with a net worth exceeding $1 billion, conducting such complex on-chain operations and research is unrealistic.

MrBeast's case seems to reflect another frustration within the crypto world. As the market capitalization of crypto assets continues to grow and enter mainstream attention, the crypto market is becoming a low-risk cash machine for influential individuals and businesses. More and more celebrities and influencers are attempting to monetize their influence through the crypto world, then disavowing any involvement with a statement. This has become a common practice. For crypto natives, the most important lesson, in the absence of regulation, may be this: in the tide of influencers and capital converging, remaining sober and prudent is your only protection.