Warren Questions MrBeast on Step Fintech Acquisition

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, sent a letter on March 23, 2026, to Jimmy Donaldson, the YouTube creator known as MrBeast, and Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, seeking detailed information about the company's recent acquisition of Step, a financial technology app that provides banking services to teenagers and previously enabled supervised cryptocurrency trading for minors.

The acquisition, announced on February 9, 2026, marked Beast Industries' entry into the fintech sector. Step, which has about seven million users, offers tools for depositing money, tracking expenses, building credit and making supervised investments, including in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. The app requires parental consent for users under 18 but has drawn scrutiny for its earlier marketing efforts. In 2022, Step promoted access to over 50 digital assets, including NFTs, through social media posts and resources that included a script encouraging minors to persuade parents to approve crypto investments. Although Step scaled back its crypto offerings in 2024, Warren's letter highlighted these past...