With an estimated net worth of up to $1 billion, Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson makes his money from YouTube, his Beast Burger, Feastables, and more. With more subscribers on his YouTube account than there are people in the United States, MrBeast has made a name for himself with his viral videos.
He's recently been talking about a potential purchase of TikTok to save it from being banned, but in another corner of the tech world, he's spoken out about a potential move into cryptocurrency. Donald and Melania Trump have just launched their own memecoins, and as they have shown in such a small amount of time, memecoins can be pretty lucrative. Then again, the disaster of Haliey "Hawk Tuah Girl" Welch being accused of making her own as a scam shows that it's not that easy.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), MrBeast said: "I could probably launch a meme coin and make hundreds of millions of dollars but idk. Just feels icky, I’ll pass."
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If one 13-year-old boy can make $30,000 off a memecoin, we're sure MrBeast could do it. Then again, the mention of it being 'icky' is something echoed by a lot of people.
Memecoins have been referred to as 'gambling’, with UK-based memecoin trader Sam Baker saying most of them are based on internet trends that "you have never even heard of" and rely on influencers pushing them on social media.
Baker admits there's 'no intrinsic value' in memecoins and no rhyme or reason to which ones flourish while others flop: "It is a pure form of gambling. It is like buying a lottery ticket. But some of them are going to rise by 10,000% or 20,000%."
Speaking to The Guardian, Baker continued: "It’s monetising people’s attention from social media. It’s a crossover from web 2.0, which is social media, to web 3.0, which is decentralised finance and crypto.
“Although they are bonkers, memecoins represent the modern monetisation of the attention economy."
Recent memecoin launches even involve ones based on Squid Game, which we're surprised MrBeast hasn't got in on given his controversial Beast Games series.
The idea that MrBeast was going to launch a memecoin kicked off when the Solana Foundation started following him on X. This was followed by a post from the Crypto Beast account saying the launch would happen in just a few days.
It seems that most are happy MrBeast won't be dipping his toe in the memecoin pool.
One critic wrote: "It’s definitely tempting given how quickly meme coins can rise in value, but I get why it might feel 'icky.'
"The volatility and speculative nature of meme coins can sometimes make it feel like a risky or shallow move, especially if you’re not fully invested in the long-term value. It’s a solid choice to pass if it doesn’t sit right with you!"
Another added, "It’s icky amplified by 100. It’s dirty in every way and the fact that the president and First Lady are doing it, makes me feel like the end is near."
Some wanted him to try it, with a third concluding: "You could make hundreds of millions of dollars and give it to charity. It should help a lot of people."
At least we won't see MrBeast going the way of Hawk Tuah Girl where he can be accused of losing his fans their life savings.