Popular YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, widely known as MrBeast, has invested nearly $1 million in the ASTER, native token of decentralized derivatives exchange Aster. According to Lookonchain, MrBeast purchased 538,384 ASTER tokens worth nearly $990,000 over the past three days. He reportedly deposited $1 million USDT into Aster using two public wallets before withdrawing the tokens at an average cost of $1.87 from the exchange.
The purchase comes after he recently lost $20k while going long on the token on September 22. As of writing, ASTER token was trading at $1.79, down 12.39% in the last 24 hours, with a 24-hour volume of $2.52 billion, as per CoinMarketCap data. MrBeast has previously faced criticism for allegedly hyping tokens and then selling at a profit. Lookonchain revealed he made over $23 million from getting in early on new projects and promoting them. MrBeast’s biggest crypto payday came from SuperVerse. Insiders have reportedly sold during a massive 50x price jump, leaving regular investors with heavy losses.
The controversy didn’t stop there. Reports claimed that he deleted social media posts and leaked private messages, suggesting he may have had ties to other questionable projects. Some of them include Ethernity Chain, Polkamon, STAK, and AIOZ Network. On September 21, Lookonchain noted on X, “MrBeast profited over $23M through insider trading, misleading investors, and using his influence to pump tokens.”
While supporters argue this reflects sharp investing, critics see an exploitative pattern. According to data from DefiLlama, Aster recently reached $24.7 billion in daily perpetual trading volume, far outpacing Hyperliquid’s $10 billion number. Aster’s token generation event last week attracted attention as well, as Binance Co-Founder CZ acknowledged the high demand for it.
However, the token encountered challenges when XPL contracts surged unexpectedly. In an X post, the exchange assured the affected that “all funds are SAFU” and promptly reimbursed any losses within hours. MrBeast’s $1 million move into ASTER has everyone talking, but it also brings extra attention from regulators. Investors should stay alert and think twice before following the hype.
