Original author: ChandlerZ, Foresight News
On February 9, renowned YouTube creator MrBeast, under Beast Industries, announced its acquisition of the teen-focused mobile banking app Step, marking its entry into the fintech sector. This is the first official move following the company's announcement of a $200 million equity investment from Ethereum treasury company BitMine.
Step is a one-stop financial management app designed to help young people embark on their financial journey as a digital banking platform. The company has long provided a range of services aimed at teenagers and young adults, including savings accounts, a credit-building Visa card similar to a debit card, and cash advances. Step itself is not a bank but offers banking services through a partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust, a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Neither company disclosed the terms of the transaction. In 2022, Step stated that it had raised $500 million in equity and debt financing from institutional investors, including General Catalyst, companies like Stripe, and individual investors such as TikTok influencer Charli D'Amelio.
Expanding Beyond YouTube
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has grown from a single creator into the core of a commercial organization spanning content, consumer goods, and offline experiences. Public records show that he has over 466 million YouTube subscribers, with his main channel and multilingual matrix covering a vast scale, achieving top-tier dissemination efficiency and user mobilization capabilities among global internet platforms.
The influencer began planning his entry into the fintech sector months ago. In October 2025, Beast Holdings, LLC filed a trademark application for "MrBeast Financial" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, intending to offer cryptocurrency trading services, crypto payment processing, and crypto trading via DEX.
Although the trademark application itself only represents a preset business boundary and cannot be directly equated with product launch, there remains a time lag between regulatory approval and business implementation. Nevertheless, it marks the first time MrBeast's intentions in finance and crypto have been documented in an official file.
Looking back a month, in January 2026, Ethereum treasury company BitMine announced a $200 million equity investment in Beast Industries, with the transaction expected to be completed around January 19, 2026. Beast Industries CEO Jeff Housenbold stated that they will explore further collaboration and introduce DeFi into their financial services platform. The two parties plan to explore bringing DeFi into the upcoming financial services platform. Beast Industries is an entertainment and consumer goods company founded by renowned YouTube creator MrBeast.
MrBeast has often discussed his personal financial situation, viewing the acquisition of Step as an opportunity to "provide a financial foundation for millions of young people that I never had." As the company prepares to enter the financial industry, MrBeast expressed his desire to create videos about finance, such as "educating people on how to invest and showing them what a Roth IRA is."
Previously Accused of Profiting Over $10 Million by Pumping and Dumping Cryptocurrency
However, this is not MrBeast's first foray into the crypto space. On October 11, 2024, on-chain detective SomaXBT publicly conducted an on-chain investigation. The investigation claimed that MrBeast participated in multiple projects' initial decentralized exchange offerings (IDOs) and token promotion activities, profiting significantly as token prices soared after his endorsements.
The projects involved include SuperFarm (SUPER), Polychain Monsters (PMON), and SPLYT (SHOPX), with some tokens dropping over 90% in price after MrBeast's sell-off.
SomaXBT revealed several cases, using the SUPER token as an example, which is a project supported by Elliot Trades.
According to SomaXBT, MrBeast invested $100,000 in the project and received 1 million SUPER tokens in return. After his investment, the token price surged, and on March 30, 2021, MrBeast transferred his SUPER tokens to a backup wallet, where they were sold off through a series of transactions totaling 1,900 ETH (approximately $3.7 million at the time). MrBeast received additional SUPER tokens under a vesting contract, which he later sold for $5.5 million, bringing his total earnings from the project to about $9 million.
SomaXBT's investigation also highlighted MrBeast's association with Polychain Monsters (PMON), another low-market-cap token project. In this case, MrBeast invested $25,000 and received 25,000 PMON tokens. On March 31, 2021, his wallet transferred these tokens to another wallet, where they were sold off through a series of transactions, yielding a profit of 685 ETH (approximately $1.3 million).
The investigation also included projects like SHOPX, STAK, and VPP in the same discussion, suggesting that after MrBeast was accused of completing sell-offs, these tokens experienced significant retracements, with some dropping over 90% from their peaks. It concluded that this is "pump and dump," emphasizing that the combination of influencer promotion and low liquidity tokens amplifies volatility and shifts risk to retail investors.
Additionally, MrBeast accumulated 705,821 ASTER tokens in September 2025, valued at approximately $1.28 million at the time.
Overall, Beast Industries has made a key move into the financial sector, while its crypto-related capabilities remain in the planning and exploration stages. Historical on-chain controversies may continue to affect external trust in its financial and crypto operations.
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