Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to know exactly what MrBeast plans to sell to his youngest fans. The Massachusetts Democrat on Monday sent a 12-page letter to Jimmy Donaldson's Beast Industries, pressing for details on its move into financial services after the company bought teen-focused banking app Step in February, reports the New York Times. Warren's questions center on whether Beast Industries intends to promote cryptocurrency to minors and how it will navigate financial regulations.
Warren's letter comes after another recent Times report on the company's crypto ambitions, and against the backdrop of Donaldson's past enthusiasm for bitcoin and NFTs. Warren also zeroed in on Step's banking partner, Evolve Bank & Trust, which has faced regulatory actions, a significant 2024 cyberattack, and fallout from fintech partner Synapse's bankruptcy, which left some customers unable to access funds. Evolve's former CEO, brought in last summer, ended up pleading guilty to child pornography charges and has since departed.
Step previously floated a parent-supervised crypto product for teens, then retreated, but not before publishing materials that Warren says urged kids to push parents toward crypto investing; Decrypt reports there was even a script on YouTube for that purpose. Beast Industries, which has filed a trademark for "MrBeast Financial," said its goal is to "improve the financial future of the next generation" and that it will review Step's offerings to ensure compliance with the law.
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