An employee of YouTube superstar MrBeast has been hit with a two-year suspension by Kalshi after allegedly turning inside information from his job into profitable trades tied to his boss’ videos.
Artem Kaptur, an editor for MrBeast, was flagged by the prediction market platform’s surveillance team for “near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement and legal counsel, said Wednesday in a news release.
The Kalshi Disciplinary Committee found that in August and September 2025, Kaptur traded on non-public information from his job on MrBeast-related contracts, violating Kalshi rules, according to a notice of disciplinary action. He also allegedly failed to cooperate with the Kalshi investigation into the alleged insider trading, according to the company.
The alleged trades may have violated federal laws against using confidential, non-public information to influence markets, according to a news release from Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency that aims to prevent fraud and maintain market integrity in the sector. In other words, the activity could constitute insider trading, which occurs when someone uses private knowledge from their job to gain an unfair financial advantage.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is YouTube’s most popular content creator, with over 469 million subscribers. Platforms like Kalshi and its competitor Polymarket allow users to place bets on a wide range of events, from the Super Bowl to celebrity relationships.
Some markets let users wager on what words MrBeast will use in upcoming videos, as well as on events like his potential upcoming wedding or when Beast Industries, the media company behind MrBeast, will announce an initial public offering IPO.
“FAFO,” Kalshi wrote on social media - referencing the popular acronym for “f*** around and find out” in a post about the investigation.
“If you insider trade or manipulate the market, there will be consequences,” the company also wrote.
In a statement to CBS News, Beast Industries said it "has no tolerance for this behavior, whether by contestants or our own employees."
"With regard to this particular matter, we've already initiated an independent investigation as part of our overall ongoing efforts to ensure the integrity of our workplace and trust with our global audiences," the spokesperson said.
The Independent has contacted Beast Industries for comment. Attempts to reach Kaptur via social media were successful. His employment status is unknown at this time.
In addition to his suspension from Kalshi, Kaptur was also fined $20,000 and must return $5,397.58 in profits tied to his trades, Kalshi said Wednesday.
Kalshi also announced a separate disciplinary action Wednesday against politician Kyle Langford, who used the platform to bet $200 on his own run for California governor.
Langford was banned from Kalshi for five years, fined $2,000, and required to return $246.36 in profits from the trades. Langford is no longer running for governor and is instead running for Congress, the company said.
In both Langford’s and Kaptur’s cases, Kalshi’s surveillance system flagged the trades, prompting the company to freeze their accounts. Kalshi said that neither trader withdrew any profits and that penalties vary depending on the specifics of each case, such as the amount traded and the rules violated.
Kalshi reported both incidents to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and plans to donate the collected fines to a nonprofit that educates consumers about derivatives markets.
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