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Far from just being an economic endeavor, cryptocurrency has drawn a following that Ben McKenzie likens to a cult. McKenzie, an actor best known for his appearances in The OC and Gotham, became obsessed with crypto during the pandemic, using his undergraduate economics degree to dig into the emerging market. What he found wasn’t the future of wealth, but an industry based on predatory scams that warp people’s value systems and prey on the fading mythology once known as the American dream. So, McKenzie got the cameras up. His directorial debut, the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, which McKenzie directed, wrote, produced and starred in, follows the actor as he speaks to people who are deeply invested in cryptocurrency. That brings him to crypto-pilled conferences, as well as to El Savador, where he interviews locals who will be displaced to make room for the government’s proposed “Bitcoin City.” Along the way, he speaks to Americans who lost their investments when crypto company Celsius went belly up and even convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, whose interview truly goes from cold DM request to awkward movie magic. “One of the most heartbreaking things to me about crypto is that these get-rich-quick schemes often prey on our best selves,” he told Playboy. “They prey on the part of us that’s trying to provide for others.” McKenzie told Playboy about why people continue to put their faith in the blockchain even after being burned, how absurd it is that we’re still not taxing billionaires and why he felt validated upon Bankman-Fried’s arrest. Read more: https://www.playboy.com/read/celebrities/ben-mckenzie-wants-to-protect-you-from-crypto submitted by /u/playboy |
