- Warren questioned MrBeast’s Step acquisition and plans to introduce crypto to teenagers.
- Step previously promoted risky crypto and even guided teens to convince their parents.
- Concerns raised over banking partner Evolve’s AML failures and past data breach.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has sent a formal letter to Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, demanding answers about his company’s acquisition of Step, a banking app designed for teenagers, and its potential plans to introduce cryptocurrency to millions of young users.
The letter, addressed to both Donaldson and Beast Industries CEO Jeff Housenbold, raises pointed questions about whether the world’s most subscribed YouTuber is equipped, or even legally prepared, to manage financial services for minors.
A $200 Million Crypto Bet on Kids
Beast Industries recently acquired Step after receiving a $200 million investment from Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a company described as the leading Ethereum treasury company in the world.
Housenbold himself stated the company looks forward to “incorporating DeFi into its upcoming financial services platform.” With 471 million YouTube subscribers, 39% of whom are between 13 and 17 years old, the potential reach into vulnerable financial consumers is enormous.
“Beast Industries is primarily an entertainment and consumer product company, with no reported prior experience offering financial services, investment services, or banking products,” the letter read.
Step’s Troubled History With Teenagers and Crypto
Step’s own track record does not help its case. The app previously allowed teenagers to trade Bitcoin and advertised access to over 50 cryptocurrency tokens and NFTs, investments it would later describe in its own content as “extremely risky,” “full of scams,” and likely to be “a disaster.”
More troubling, Step produced a video coaching teenagers on how to pressure hesitant parents into approving crypto investments, providing word-for-word scripts and advising teens to “go in for the kill.”
The Banking Partner Nobody Noticed
Warren’s letter also raises serious concerns about Step’s banking partner, Evolve Bank and Trust. The Federal Reserve cited Evolve for anti-money laundering failures in 2024. That same year, it suffered a damaging data breach and was implicated in the collapse of Synapse Financial, during which up to $96 million in customer funds went missing and could not be located.
The Deadline
Beast Industries has until April 3 to respond to Warren’s eleven detailed questions, covering everything from planned crypto offerings to how customer funds would be protected in another banking failure.
For a company still building its compliance infrastructure, the clock is ticking.
Related: Kalshi Fines MrBeast Editor $20,398 for YouTube Bets Insider Trading
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