The BitMine chairman said at Hong Kong Consensus 2026 that MrBeast acquiring neobank Step could win over a new generation of investors to crypto. Feb 11, 2026, 8:49 a.m. HONG KONG — Thomas Lee, chairman of ether ETH $1,948.79 treasury company BitMine Immersion (BMRN), said the next generation's great financial institution may not come from Wall Street but from YouTube. Speaking on stage at Consensus Hong Kong on Wednesday, Lee argued that MrBeast’s move into banking could position the video creator as the primary financial platform for Gen Z and Gen Alpha and a major onramp to crypto. STORY CONTINUES BELOW MrBeast’s company, in which BitMine invested $200 million, earlier this month agreed to buy neobank Step as a long-term play on how younger generations will access financial services. "Beast has a chance to be the financial institution of their generation," Lee said. He compared the opportunity to how Charles Schwab served baby boomers, BlackRock and Blackstone attracted the capital of Generation X and Robinhood captured Millennials. Gen Z and Gen Alpha, he noted, represent about 120 million people in the U.S. alone, and MrBeast has built an audience of more than a billion followers globally. "These customers aren’t necessarily wealthy today," Lee said, but over the next decade they will take part in a major wealth transfer. If Step becomes their primary financial platform, he argued, it could position BitMine and investment in MrBeast's company at the center of a generation that views digital assets as native to its financial life. More For You Binance teams up with Franklin Templeton to use tokenized money market funds as off-exchange collateral 50 minutes ago Institutions can now use Benji-issued tokenized money market funds as off-exchange collateral to trade on Binance using Ceffu’s custody layer. What to know: The value of Benji-issued fund shares is mirrored within Binance’s trading environment. The tokenized assets themselves remain securely held off-exchange in regulated custody. Read full story