CryptoReal
CASE FILE — Nov 11, 2024

How a Podcast Slip Exposed an Alleged CryptoPunks Insider Network

EP By Elena Petrova Nov 11, 2024 8 min read

A single offhand remark on a podcast has reopened questions about coordinated insider trading among a group of prominent internet personalities during the 2021 CryptoPunks boom.

Credit for the investigation: SomaXBT, loock.io, Mario Longtin, Impaulsive.

01The remark that started it

When MrBeast mentioned, during an appearance on Logan Paul's podcast, that he had once been part of a group call about buying into a specific NFT collection, it initially read as a throwaway anecdote. On-chain records suggest otherwise.

Blockchain investigator SomaXBT had already documented evidence that MrBeast made more than $10 million trading a series of low-capitalization tokens promoted by influencers including Lark Davis, CryptoBanter, and KSI. Many of those tokens have since lost over 90% of their value, and some projects were rebranded entirely following the losses suffered by retail investors.

That work was a starting point rather than a conclusion. SomaXBT subsequently joined onchain analyst Hunter, influencer angelfacepeanut, Kasper Vandeloock, and PARSON of Loock Advising in a joint effort that mapped more than 50 wallets connected to MrBeast, suggesting his crypto activity was more extensive than previously known.

It was the podcast clip, however, that broadened the scope of the inquiry. In it, MrBeast described being on a call with roughly 30 other influencers discussing the purchase of CryptoPunks, and referenced a "motivational speaker with a penchant for NFTs" who offered the group guidance. FaZe Banks later corroborated this account, saying he too was contacted by a self-described New York Jets superfan encouraging him to buy in.

02The price action

CryptoPunks floor prices moved as follows over the period in question:

  • February 1, 2021: 5.1 ETH
  • March 1, 2021: 22 ETH
  • August 2021: peaked around 125 ETH
  • End of year: settled near 65 ETH

The identity of the "motivational speaker" referenced in the podcast clip is widely believed to be Gary Vaynerchuk — self-described marketing guru and Jets fan — better known as Gary Vee. On February 21, 2021, he tweeted "HODL" alongside a Punks United GIF, around the time his public interest in NFTs took off. Months later, on August 23, 2021, he tweeted simply: "That punk floor." Two days after that post, the CryptoPunks floor price jumped from 82 ETH on August 18 to 129 ETH, according to Nansen data — a move that occurred entirely within 48 hours of the tweet. Whether that timing reflects coincidence or influence remains an open question, but it is one of several data points investigators point to.

The sections below detail what on-chain records show for each individual named in connection with the call.

03MrBeast (James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson)

MrBeast is the one who disclosed the call publicly, prompting the wider investigation. Wallet activity attributed to him shows purchases of eight CryptoPunks during the run-up period, six of which were later sold:

Separately, MrBeast received a free "Gift Goat" from VeeFriends on May 25, 2021, which he later sold for 30.2351 ETH on January 7, 2022. His OpenSea activity covering CryptoPunks and VeeFriends is publicly viewable.

04Logan Paul

Logan Paul has said he only became involved with CryptoPunks after the influencer call took place, but wallet activity attributed to him tells a more complicated story, including punks moved between wallets and what appear to be private sales. His confirmed OpenSea account, an alleged secondary account, and his wallet profile on Arkham are all referenced in the investigation. Whether he actually sold any punks for profit is still disputed, but investigators view the wallet movements as consistent with insider positioning ahead of the call becoming public.

05FaZe Banks (Richard "Ricky" Bengston)

Banks has both confirmed the call took place and acknowledged profiting from it, at one point describing flipping CryptoPunk 5827 for more than half a million dollars. Records show he purchased eight punks between February 25 and July 18, 2021, with most subsequently moved to a second wallet and sold. CryptoPunk 3860 was bought and flipped for 78 ETH within two days during the August 2021 price spike.

Between the three of them, MrBeast, Logan Paul, and FaZe Banks have all effectively acknowledged some role in the events described, and their wallet histories show real profits — though wallet-shuffling in some cases makes it difficult to pin down exactly how much each made.

06Is there a mastermind?

While the three above have each admitted to some piece of the story, much of the circumstantial evidence points back to Gary Vaynerchuk. That is far from the only allegation surrounding him: former VeeFriends investor Mario Longtin has turned whistleblower and is producing an ongoing 15-part investigative series alleging a broader pattern of insider trading, market manipulation, and deceptive conduct tied to Vaynerchuk. Longtin's work suggests the CryptoPunks episode may be only one component of a larger set of alleged practices; this piece focuses specifically on the CryptoPunks angle as a representative case study.

07Gary Vee

Gary Vaynerchuk sits at the center of the influencer-CryptoPunks story while remaining the hardest figure to pin down directly. His public tweets promoting the collection preceded price surges on at least two occasions. Despite reputedly owning a large number of punks, tracing his wallet activity turns up a network of suspected addresses with transfers structured in ways that resist simple analysis.

Wallets and accounts linked to him include his OpenSea profile, a secondary account referred to as "Gary Vault", the VeeFriendsDev account, and his profile on Arkham. Unlike MrBeast or FaZe Banks, whose wallet trails are relatively straightforward, Vaynerchuk's transactions form a more tangled pattern, which investigators interpret as either an effort at concealment or a deliberately structured trading approach. His influence in this story is not limited to his own trades — several people in his immediate circle also show notable CryptoPunks activity during the same window.

08Andy Krainak

As President of VeeFriends, Krainak occupies a central position in Vaynerchuk's organization, and blockchain records show him selling a gifted VeeFriends NFT for a substantial profit — raising the question of whether his proximity to Vaynerchuk gave him early knowledge of the CryptoPunks plan.

His on-chain history includes:

Of Vaynerchuk's inner circle, Krainak's trading pattern is the clearest match for coordinated insider activity. Two other figures close to Vaynerchuk — Tyler Schmitt and his brother AJ Vaynerchuk — show less clear-cut signals.

09Tyler Schmitt

CryptoPunk 9171 was bought for 28.5 ETH on February 22, 2021, moved to another of Schmitt's wallets, and not flipped for 52 ETH until June 17, 2023 — a holding period inconsistent with a quick pump-driven flip. Separately, CryptoPunk 6117 was purchased for 15 ETH on February 19, 2021, and has never been sold.

10AJ Vaynerchuk

Gary's brother AJ is another figure some suspect may have benefited from the alleged scheme, though his two known public wallets don't show a clear pattern of profiting from the pump:

Investigators also note that an unidentified wallet was used to move assets between AJ's two known wallets, which raises the possibility that it, too, belongs to him.

11Assessing the evidence

Many traders active in this period bought, sold, and flipped CryptoPunks aggressively without any connection to the alleged call, so trading volume alone doesn't prove wrongdoing. What draws scrutiny in this case is the combination of factors: the timing of Vaynerchuk's tweets relative to price surges, the acknowledged existence of a private call involving roughly 30 influencers, admissions of profit from three of the participants, and wallet structures — particularly around Vaynerchuk and his circle — that are harder to trace than typical individual trading activity.

Definitively proving coordinated insider trading would likely require direct evidence such as chat logs, recorded admissions from all parties involved, or conclusive identification of the unattributed wallets referenced above. Absent that, the on-chain record supports a pattern consistent with the allegations without fully confirming them.

The broader question raised by the investigation is whether the CryptoPunks episode was an isolated case or a template — informal calls, well-timed public statements, and coordinated purchases — that could recur across other projects where influencers hold outsized sway over retail sentiment.

InfluencersMrBeast
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