MrBeast Employee Fined, Suspended by Kalshi for Insider Trading on YouTube Videos

Kalshi revealed enforcement actions against two traders on Wednesday, saying a political candidate in California and YouTube video editor who worked for MrBeast conducted insider trading on its prediction markets platform.

The cases are among the first that Kalshi has made public after sifting through a monthslong backlog of suspicious trading activity. They resulted in fines and disciplinary actions, as well as referrals to the CFTC, according to a blog post draft shared with Decrypt.

One of the individuals, identified as Artem Kaptur by Kalshi, was employed by YouTube star MrBeast, whose real name is James Stephen Donaldson. The other individual was identified as Kyle Langford, a 24-year-old Republican political candidate in California.

Kalshi said the insider linked to MrBeast traded around $4,000 on YouTube “streaming markets,” where people can wager on which words MrBeast will say in his videos. Kaptur was fined more than $20,000 and suspended from the platform for two years, Kalshi added.

Prediction markets centered around predetermined outcomes, such as edited YouTube videos, have drawn skepticism because they are susceptible to insider trading and manipulation by the content creators themselves. Unlike a sporting event or a political election—where the outcome is determined by external, uncontrollable forces—the “truth” of a YouTube video is tailored.

The insider linked to MrBeast exhibited “near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds,” which was flagged by Kalshi’s surveillance systems, the firm said. Meanwhile, several users flagged suspicious activity in associated trading data to the company.

An investigation conducted by the prediction market startup determined that the video editor “likely had access to material, non-public information connected to his trading” based on his employment. 

Decrypt has reached out to Beast Industries, the holding company behind MrBeast’s growing digital media and consumer product empire, for comment.

The individual who appeared to be Langford wagered $200 on their own gubernatorial bid in California before pivoting to a Congressional run. Kalshi said that wager was telegraphed on social media, but he isn’t the only candidate for office in the U.S. that’s done that.

Klashi indicated that the politician was fined $2,200 and banned from the platform for five years. It views self-wagers as a form of market manipulation. Langford predicted that he would become California’s next governor on Kalshi last year, per Event Horizon.

Decrypt has reached out to Langford for comment.

Kalshi said that it plans to donate fines to a nonprofit providing education on derivatives. Moving forward, it aims to publish information about investigations on a quarterly basis.

Kalshi is required to report cases to the CFTC, but the exchange is trying to use that obligation as an opportunity to distinguish itself within a sector that critics argue is lightly regulated.

When it comes to policing traders’ activity, Kalshi Enforcement Head Robert DeNault told Decrypt last week that “source agency” trading is among the firm’s biggest focuses.

If a trader is affiliated with the entity responsible for an event’s resolution on Kalshi, they are barred from the market. As an example, he referenced the “legal duty” that background dancers from the Super Bowl halftime could have to refrain from trading due to confidentiality clauses.

“Those are types of policing activity that we might see on the exchange that you wouldn’t see necessarily from a federal regulator,” he said. “‘Insider’ does have a real legal meaning, even though it’s not actually defined in any statute.”