YouTube star James Stephen Donaldson who famously goes by the name MrBeast on YouTube has stirred speculations around his foray into the crypto space. In a fresh development, the YouTube sensation has announced the purchase of Step, an advanced, mobile banking platform headquartered in the U.S. His intention is to educate youngsters on the nuances of financial tools and services.
MrBeast’s company, Beast Industries, has not disclosed the amount it shelled out to purchase the platform that was founded by fintech veterans CJ MacDonald and Alexey Kalinichenko back in 2018.
Instead, the world’s most subscribed YouTuber with 466 million followers, posted a nostalgic and heart-felt note explaining his decision to purchase Step on Monday.
“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up. That’s exactly why we’re joining forces with Step! I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had,” he posted.
The development quickly stirred speculations around MrBeast’s entry into crypto businesses.
In October 2025, MrBeast filed a trademark application in the U.S. for “MrBeast Financial” on an “intent-to-use” basis. The filing shows that this brand will dabble in crypto service offerings including an exchange alongside investment advisory and financial planning services.
More recently in January this year, Bitmine announced an investment of $200 million into Beast Industries. Touted as the largest Ethereum treasury company with over 4.32 million ETH tokens under its control, Bitmine’s investment into the entertainment and consumer products company, to expand the crypto and DeFi adoption in the entertainment and consumer industries.
Bitmine CEO Tom Lee also congratulated Beast Industries for acquiring Step, lauding the popular YouTuber for planning to make young adults more aware about finance management.
As of now, MrBeast has neither confirmed nor denied rumours suggesting that his big crypto debut is perhaps just round the corner.