Actor Ben McKenzie, who rose to global fame with his role as Ryan Atwood on the hit 2000s teen drama The OC, is now campaigning against cryptocurrencies on mainstream American television.
He slammed Bitcoin on The Daily Show while promoting his new documentary (“Everybody Lies to You for Money”).
The “Trust the Code” Fallacy
McKenzie, who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, explained that his deep dive into the world of cryptocurrencies stemmed from boredom and frustration with celebrity endorsements.
In an interview, McKenzie argued that he disagrees with the industry’s philosophy that cumbersome human interactions can be replaced with computer code.
“Code doesn’t fall from the sky. People write code,” McKenzie said, pointing to an awkward pre-collapse interview with FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried as the ultimate proof. “He instructed one of his employees to change a single line of code, which allowed him to borrow a customer’s assets. I can’t think of a clearer demonstration of the intellectual fallacy that code can be trusted.”
The attacker didn’t mince words when assessing the broader ecosystem, and Bitcoin in particular. “Bitcoin is full of lies. It’s full of misinformation,” he declared. “This place is full of criminals, too.”
exploit young people
A significant portion of MacKenzie’s documentary focuses on the victims of collapsed crypto platforms like Celsius.
He complained that the industry was exploiting young people’s innate risk tolerance and social pressure.
“Not only should we bombard them with ads and participate in this, but if they don’t…what are you, motherfucker? Buy some crypto,” MacKenzie pointed out, paraphrasing the infamous Matt Damon ad.
McKenzie accused the cryptocurrency industry of refusing proper oversight. “The neatest trick of cryptocurrencies, and the cruelest trick, is to shift the blame back onto Mark himself,” he said. “But I genuinely care about them, and I genuinely want to protect them, and the industry is not protecting them.”
The Hollywood star made his position on the regulations clear. “I’m just asking for it to be properly regulated. I’m also respectfully asking that the offenders be sent to prison.”
