Ben McKenzie, the former teen heartthrob who starred in “The O.C.” and “Gotham,” jokingly refers to his somewhat recent career pivot as going from a “mid-level celebrity” to part-time crypto critic. His latest performance reached its apogee today with the publication of a long-awaited anti-crypto book called “Easy Money,” co-written by freelance journalist Jacob Silverman. The two started working together during the height of the pandemic, when acting work was hard to come by. In their first co-written article, published by Slate in 2021, the duo chastised actors Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and Tom Brady, among others who were all paid crypto endorsers. (Kardashian and Mayweather were later fined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.)
It’s hard to call McKenzie’s commentary grandstanding, considering so much of what he says about the industry is at least rooted in partial truth. But he does have a habit of making massive, totalizing claims like crypto “represents the largest Ponzi scheme in history” and calling the entire industry a fraud. A graduate 20-odd years ago from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics, McKenzie also wanders out into the realm of economic history, and is comfortable enough saying “private money” itself has failed.
In a recent Guardian profile, the actor disclosed he lost as much as $250,000 trying to short the market. Allegedly, he got the timing wrong. The article doesn’t share many details, so we can only speculate, but this wager could undercut much of what McKenzie has been saying over the years. In other words, the self-declared paid liar is also a hypocrite. Betting crypto will collapse is one thing, but betting the industry will collapse without disclosing you stand to profit from it is a whole other game. In fact, it’s essentially the same type of arrangement McKenzie often criticized others for.
It is truly problematic when people treat blockchain as a solution for everything. It is an issue that people hire celebrities to hype scams. It is morally reprehensible when some people convince others to put more than they can afford to lose even in stable projects like Bitcoin. But to ignore all of crypto’s actual advancements and benefits is also a mistake. There has to be a way of pointing out that blockchain has become a hotbed of scams, without calling the whole industry a fraud.
It is a plain matter of fact that crypto has benefited people in dire straits. It may not be the perfect inflation hedge, but Bitcoin has helped people protect their savings in war zones and escape repressive regimes. It’s kept controversial, but useful, websites alive for years. It’s helped fund protests and dissidents and parties. Stablecoins are increasingly found to be better for remittances and to get charitable funding to high-risk areas. People have found communities in Web3, and artists a new medium to express themselves with NFTs. Blockchain has added to the body of knowledge in cryptography, and may have a role to play addressing climate change and making governments more accountable.
Ben McKenzie’s transition from mid-level celebrity to part-time crypto critic has been a long time coming. His latest performance is the publication of the anti-crypto book “Easy Money,” co-written with freelance journalist Jacob Silverman. McKenzie has a habit of making totalizing claims like crypto “represents the largest Ponzi scheme in history” and calling the entire industry a fraud. However, it was recently revealed that he lost as much as $250,000 trying to short the market, which could undercut much of what he has been saying.
It is problematic when people treat blockchain as a solution for everything and hire celebrities to hype scams. But to ignore all of crypto’s actual advancements and benefits is also a mistake. Crypto has benefited people in dire straits, kept controversial websites alive, helped fund protests and dissidents, and added to the body of knowledge in cryptography. There has to be a way of pointing out that blockchain has become a hotbed of scams, without calling the whole industry a fraud.