5 ms·

Former OC actor Ben McKenzie on crusade to take down 'stupid' cryptocurrency

74 points by billybuckwheat 2mo ago

deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
BLKNSLVR 2mo ago
Original ABC article, including video of interview: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/ben-mckenzie-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-documentary-oc-star/107062012 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/ben-mckenzie-cryptocu... I turned off when he said that Bitcoin is issued by corporations. The interviewer calls him out on it and he doubles down. That's blatantly false, and indicates poor research and / or poor understanding. It may be true for plenty of other cryptocurrencies, but it's definitely not true for some, including Bitcoin. In fact, 99% of cryptocurrencies are scams, but that's because they can now be created in seconds with little knowledge or skill. Feels like he's pushing an agenda, especially with the use of the term 'corporations'. Which is amusing, since it's the lack of trust of big-finance that (so the story goes) led to the creation of Bitcoin in the first place - the 2007 GFC in particular. Although electronic money was being dabbled with since the mid-late 90s, and that base formed the foundation of what Bitcoin was built on. This is probably just advertising for his documentary, really.
- rvz 2mo ago
  This is the same author that attempted to short bitcoin and lost most of his money. [0] Perhaps that is why he is upset about cryptocurrencies. But the true scam is the complete debasement of the US dollar and people will slowly realize why the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago as it continues to be printed to zero and number go up with stocks and crypto. It is also the reason why some people are crying that $1m is not enough to retire on, and they are right. Because $1m is worth less today than it was 40 years ago. Hence why people here need >$500k and above a year to live, when in reality, it is the fiat currency becoming more worthless over time. Sounds like a scam in the long term. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/15/ben-mckenzie-interview-oc-cryptocurrency https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/15/ben-mck...
  - latchkey 2mo ago
    > the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago at this point, you don't even have to go that far back.
  - TMWNN 2mo ago
    > But the true scam is the complete debasement of the US dollar and people will slowly realize why the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago as it continues to be printed to zero and number go up with stocks and crypto. By contrast, there was essentially no inflation in England from 1614 to the start of WW1.
    - Yokohiii 2mo ago
      By contrast, england could summon anything from their colonies.
  - catlifeonmars 2mo ago
    Where do you live where you need to make $500k and above to live in the US? Silicon Valley? If so, that’s definitely the exception rather than the rule. > Because $1m is worth less today than it was 40 years ago. And? $1 is also worth less than it was 40 years ago. You also make more than the same person would doing the same thing 40 years ago, so that’s not a useful comparison. If you want to make statements about standards of living, you need to use the same measuring stick. You can use inflation adjusted values to do so.
    - rvz 2mo ago
      > Where do you live where you need to make $500k and above to live in the US? Silicon Valley? I live in reality. > If so, that’s definitely the exception rather than the rule. Ask anyone in a HCOL area in the US and it is hardly an "exception". > And? $1 is also worth less than it was 40 years ago. You also make more than the same person would doing the same thing 40 years ago, so that’s not a useful comparison. If you want to make statements about standards of living, you need to use the same measuring stick. You can use inflation adjusted values to do so. That depends on the occupation. You also didn't make any point and just casually accepted getting scammed on the debasement of your own fiat currency.
- Nina_antalpha 2mo ago
  most crypto's junk. But saying Bitcoin is issued by corporations, then doubling down, just hands critics a free win. Sloppy for a guy selling a doc.
  - UltraSane 2mo ago
    He might have meant corporate mining, which is partially true.
    - andirk 2mo ago
      Or that people commonly make their purchases via corporations. "Issued" can mean a lot of things.
- georgemcbay 2mo ago
  > I turned off when he said that Bitcoin is issued by corporations. The interviewer calls him out on it and he doubles down. That's blatantly false, and indicates poor research and / or poor understanding. He knows how bitcoin works. And what he said wasn't a lie, though you could argue it was a simplification, but he's not addressing the HN crowd with what he's saying and IMO his simplification is perfectly acceptable to the audience he is targeting. The cost to mine a single BTC in 2026 is > $70k. Random individuals and hobbyists are not spending that kind of money mining bitcoin.
  - JuniperMesos 2mo ago
    I'd say that's such an important oversimplification that it's tantamount to a lie. Bitcoin's issuance model is one of the several completely novel financial concepts that Bitcoin introduced, and involves mentally-modeling a relatively-complex incentive structure and some non-trivial computer science properties to understand. Saying "Bitcoin is issued by corporations" is simply not engaging with the actual substance of how Bitcoin is issued, and instead says uses the vague-but-sinister-sounding word "corporations" to imply that Bitcoin is generically bad to low-sophistication viewers.
    - georgemcbay 2mo ago
      Crypto, including Bitcoin, is bad. And doesn't really solve any of the problems it claims to solve. If it did solve any of those problems in a real and practical way, it wouldn't need an increasingly powerful lobby spending hundreds of millions of dollars so far on this year's US elections (nearly 40% of all corporate election spending in 2026). Crypto in 2026 is just another financial engineering scam looking for ways to grab the money of pensioners, etc.
- fechols 2mo ago
  "In fact, 99% of cryptocurrencies are scams..." Almost got it! Just one more percent and you'll have it figured out.
  - wheelerwj 2mo ago
    99% of phone calls i receive are scams. Clearly we should ban phones.
- throwawayffffas 2mo ago
  The kind interpretation of his statement is that Bitcoin mining has moved to the hands of corporations. Its not nerds in their garages running gpus, but an entire "corporate" industrial complex designing, and shipping custom chips filling out entire data centers.
alephnerd 2mo ago
Don't call it that [0] [0] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s78adWHXQ8U https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s78adWHXQ8U
SilentM68 2mo ago
Somebody should probably let him know about this site: tftc.io I'd be educational for him, I would think :)
webprofusion 2mo ago
It's Jim Gordon btw, nobody watched the OC surely.
- PierceJoy 2mo ago
  You obviously weren't in high school at the time the OC was on. Everybody watched it. I don't think I've ever viewed Ben as anyone other than Ryan Atwood ever since.
  - RedShift1 2mo ago
    The first two seasons were really good. So good it kinda surprised me on a rewatch. After that it went downhill though.
    - blitzar 2mo ago
      I can not imagine it holds up well ...
  - didntknowyou 2mo ago
    i know him as from the tv show but only watched a few episodes. he has done many movies and journalism now. not everyone has to be an OC superfan.
  - throwawayffffas 2mo ago
    You clearly missed Southland.
    - PierceJoy 2mo ago
      I didn't. Ryan Atwood was great in Southland.
  - jdjdhrhrn 2mo ago
    Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do .. California here we come ... Right just where were coming from ....
senectus1 2mo ago
No idea what the OC is, but the guy looks familiar. its largely a scam yes, but that doesnt mean it has no utility. Happy for it to get this sort of marketing tho.
fishgoesblub 2mo ago
Every time an individual blanket labels the entirety of Cryptocurrency as a "Ponzi Scheme" just reveals their lack of knowledge. Plenty of them are, and plenty of them aren't in the fact that they aren't scams, or don't even fit the definition of a Ponzi. He can try to pry my Monero from my cold, dead hands.
gatvol 2mo ago
Celebs having opinions that get amplified because they're celebs is simply embarrassing all round for everyone.
- 2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
  Dude completed under grad in foreign affairs and economics. Might have been good student. At the very least someone with an undergrad trying to understand crypto seems reasonable. Yes, made a doco and is trying to make money. But could still be reasonable.
  - someguydave 2mo ago
    Why did they pick him to testify, out of the tens or hundreds of thousands with a similar background?
  - Hendrikto 2mo ago
    He has the most basic misunderstandings on the very foundations of crypto. He is not trying to understand. He is trying to make headlines to sell his movie.
- xhevahir 2mo ago
  He's written a book on the subject and testified in front of the US Senate. The fact that he acted in a popular TV show more than twenty years ago isn't particularly relevant.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
    I am also skeptical on celebrities being activists, because some, (many? most?) don’t know what they are talking about. But if there are signs they might be reasonable, you should adjust your opinions if you’re going to bag them out.
Sha1rholder 2mo ago
Though I've never heard of The O.C., but I'm sure there comes yet another comedy from the actor.
tancop 2mo ago
> Crypto is really only good for gambling, betting the price of this or that crypto is going to go up or down, and, crime Crime is a pretty broad category. Sure you can use crypto to scam people and dodge taxes, but illegal does not equal immoral. Piracy, leaking evidence of war crimes and police abuse, leaking source code to hurt controversial companies, donations to banned groups, even hosting source code for illegal tools. Not all of them benefit from crypto itself but adjacent technologies that need a blockchain like Arweave and ENS. Then there are things like drug dealing and prostitution that have real world harms but not everyone agrees they should be criminal. It's great to have a bunch of different payment methods that can be as anonymous as cash (Monero) or fully programmable with smart wallets to protect you from scams, all without any corporate cartel that could block you. Cyberleek is a great example for both sides of the debate. They used Solana programs and Arweave to make their site uncensorable, but also created a token donation system and market cap goals to make thousands of dollars in the process (a lot for someone probably based in Russia). Is it all morally wrong, or all right, or only wrong for the money side?
- throwawayffffas 2mo ago
  Listen that's all great in theory, but the vast majority of the actual use is extortions, drug dealing[1], terrorist financing, money laudring and authoritarian regimes evading sanctions. The only value is that it does not go through banks. [1] The moral problem with drug dealing is not the drugs, but the fact the people selling them are using that money to perpuate an incredible circle of violence.
  - Stagnant 2mo ago
    Would be nice to hear where you are basing the claim 'vast majority', when different chain analysis companies have been pretty consistent in reporting illicit activity to be closer to 1% of total transaction volume [1][2] 1: https://www.trmlabs.com/fr/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-crypto-crime-report https://www.trmlabs.com/fr/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-cryp... 2: https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-drug-sales-darknet-markets-2026/ https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-drug-sales-darknet-m...
xorcist 2mo ago
The argument that private transactions are only for people with something to hide is one that we should be very careful with. The same could be said about projects like Tor, which we know for certain is used for all sorts of illegal activities, and really just about any use of cryptography use outside of big tech and systems with law enforcement access. It is exactly the same as the argument that all chat and email providers that cannot intercept and store plaintext data should be outlawed. Private chats and private value transfers are used by criminals, there's no question about it. We should think of the children. But the slope is slippery and the question is where to draw the line and what type of society we want to live in. To someone who valued abolishing export mode ciphers and key escrow schemes, the Overton window has really shifted on this.
johndav 2mo ago
[dead]
gos9 2mo ago
Washed up actor tries for headlines on book tour, more at 7
Mare8 2mo ago
[dead]

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

Original ABC article, including video of interview: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/ben-mckenzie-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-documentary-oc-star/107062012 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/ben-mckenzie-cryptocu... I turned off when he said that Bitcoin is issued by corporations. The interviewer calls him out on it and he doubles down. That's blatantly false, and indicates poor research and / or poor understanding. It may be true for plenty of other cryptocurrencies, but it's definitely not true for some, including Bitcoin. In fact, 99% of cryptocurrencies are scams, but that's because they can now be created in seconds with little knowledge or skill. Feels like he's pushing an agenda, especially with the use of the term 'corporations'. Which is amusing, since it's the lack of trust of big-finance that (so the story goes) led to the creation of Bitcoin in the first place - the 2007 GFC in particular. Although electronic money was being dabbled with since the mid-late 90s, and that base formed the foundation of what Bitcoin was built on. This is probably just advertising for his documentary, really.

rvz 2mo ago
This is the same author that attempted to short bitcoin and lost most of his money. [0] Perhaps that is why he is upset about cryptocurrencies. But the true scam is the complete debasement of the US dollar and people will slowly realize why the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago as it continues to be printed to zero and number go up with stocks and crypto. It is also the reason why some people are crying that $1m is not enough to retire on, and they are right. Because $1m is worth less today than it was 40 years ago. Hence why people here need >$500k and above a year to live, when in reality, it is the fiat currency becoming more worthless over time. Sounds like a scam in the long term. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/15/ben-mckenzie-interview-oc-cryptocurrency https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/15/ben-mck...
- latchkey 2mo ago
  > the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago at this point, you don't even have to go that far back.
- TMWNN 2mo ago
  > But the true scam is the complete debasement of the US dollar and people will slowly realize why the dollar will always be worth less than it was 40 years ago as it continues to be printed to zero and number go up with stocks and crypto. By contrast, there was essentially no inflation in England from 1614 to the start of WW1.
  - Yokohiii 2mo ago
    By contrast, england could summon anything from their colonies.
- catlifeonmars 2mo ago
  Where do you live where you need to make $500k and above to live in the US? Silicon Valley? If so, that’s definitely the exception rather than the rule. > Because $1m is worth less today than it was 40 years ago. And? $1 is also worth less than it was 40 years ago. You also make more than the same person would doing the same thing 40 years ago, so that’s not a useful comparison. If you want to make statements about standards of living, you need to use the same measuring stick. You can use inflation adjusted values to do so.
  - rvz 2mo ago
    > Where do you live where you need to make $500k and above to live in the US? Silicon Valley? I live in reality. > If so, that’s definitely the exception rather than the rule. Ask anyone in a HCOL area in the US and it is hardly an "exception". > And? $1 is also worth less than it was 40 years ago. You also make more than the same person would doing the same thing 40 years ago, so that’s not a useful comparison. If you want to make statements about standards of living, you need to use the same measuring stick. You can use inflation adjusted values to do so. That depends on the occupation. You also didn't make any point and just casually accepted getting scammed on the debasement of your own fiat currency.
Nina_antalpha 2mo ago
most crypto's junk. But saying Bitcoin is issued by corporations, then doubling down, just hands critics a free win. Sloppy for a guy selling a doc.
- UltraSane 2mo ago
  He might have meant corporate mining, which is partially true.
  - andirk 2mo ago
    Or that people commonly make their purchases via corporations. "Issued" can mean a lot of things.
georgemcbay 2mo ago
> I turned off when he said that Bitcoin is issued by corporations. The interviewer calls him out on it and he doubles down. That's blatantly false, and indicates poor research and / or poor understanding. He knows how bitcoin works. And what he said wasn't a lie, though you could argue it was a simplification, but he's not addressing the HN crowd with what he's saying and IMO his simplification is perfectly acceptable to the audience he is targeting. The cost to mine a single BTC in 2026 is > $70k. Random individuals and hobbyists are not spending that kind of money mining bitcoin.
- JuniperMesos 2mo ago
  I'd say that's such an important oversimplification that it's tantamount to a lie. Bitcoin's issuance model is one of the several completely novel financial concepts that Bitcoin introduced, and involves mentally-modeling a relatively-complex incentive structure and some non-trivial computer science properties to understand. Saying "Bitcoin is issued by corporations" is simply not engaging with the actual substance of how Bitcoin is issued, and instead says uses the vague-but-sinister-sounding word "corporations" to imply that Bitcoin is generically bad to low-sophistication viewers.
  - georgemcbay 2mo ago
    Crypto, including Bitcoin, is bad. And doesn't really solve any of the problems it claims to solve. If it did solve any of those problems in a real and practical way, it wouldn't need an increasingly powerful lobby spending hundreds of millions of dollars so far on this year's US elections (nearly 40% of all corporate election spending in 2026). Crypto in 2026 is just another financial engineering scam looking for ways to grab the money of pensioners, etc.
fechols 2mo ago
"In fact, 99% of cryptocurrencies are scams..." Almost got it! Just one more percent and you'll have it figured out.
- wheelerwj 2mo ago
  99% of phone calls i receive are scams. Clearly we should ban phones.
throwawayffffas 2mo ago
The kind interpretation of his statement is that Bitcoin mining has moved to the hands of corporations. Its not nerds in their garages running gpus, but an entire "corporate" industrial complex designing, and shipping custom chips filling out entire data centers.

alephnerd 2mo ago

Don't call it that [0] [0] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s78adWHXQ8U https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s78adWHXQ8U

SilentM68 2mo ago

Somebody should probably let him know about this site: tftc.io I'd be educational for him, I would think :)

webprofusion 2mo ago

It's Jim Gordon btw, nobody watched the OC surely.

PierceJoy 2mo ago
You obviously weren't in high school at the time the OC was on. Everybody watched it. I don't think I've ever viewed Ben as anyone other than Ryan Atwood ever since.
- RedShift1 2mo ago
  The first two seasons were really good. So good it kinda surprised me on a rewatch. After that it went downhill though.
  - blitzar 2mo ago
    I can not imagine it holds up well ...
- didntknowyou 2mo ago
  i know him as from the tv show but only watched a few episodes. he has done many movies and journalism now. not everyone has to be an OC superfan.
- throwawayffffas 2mo ago
  You clearly missed Southland.
  - PierceJoy 2mo ago
    I didn't. Ryan Atwood was great in Southland.
- jdjdhrhrn 2mo ago
  Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do .. California here we come ... Right just where were coming from ....

senectus1 2mo ago

No idea what the OC is, but the guy looks familiar. its largely a scam yes, but that doesnt mean it has no utility. Happy for it to get this sort of marketing tho.

fishgoesblub 2mo ago

Every time an individual blanket labels the entirety of Cryptocurrency as a "Ponzi Scheme" just reveals their lack of knowledge. Plenty of them are, and plenty of them aren't in the fact that they aren't scams, or don't even fit the definition of a Ponzi. He can try to pry my Monero from my cold, dead hands.

gatvol 2mo ago

Celebs having opinions that get amplified because they're celebs is simply embarrassing all round for everyone.

2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
Dude completed under grad in foreign affairs and economics. Might have been good student. At the very least someone with an undergrad trying to understand crypto seems reasonable. Yes, made a doco and is trying to make money. But could still be reasonable.
- someguydave 2mo ago
  Why did they pick him to testify, out of the tens or hundreds of thousands with a similar background?
- Hendrikto 2mo ago
  He has the most basic misunderstandings on the very foundations of crypto. He is not trying to understand. He is trying to make headlines to sell his movie.
xhevahir 2mo ago
He's written a book on the subject and testified in front of the US Senate. The fact that he acted in a popular TV show more than twenty years ago isn't particularly relevant.
- 2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
  I am also skeptical on celebrities being activists, because some, (many? most?) don’t know what they are talking about. But if there are signs they might be reasonable, you should adjust your opinions if you’re going to bag them out.

Sha1rholder 2mo ago

Though I've never heard of The O.C., but I'm sure there comes yet another comedy from the actor.

tancop 2mo ago

> Crypto is really only good for gambling, betting the price of this or that crypto is going to go up or down, and, crime Crime is a pretty broad category. Sure you can use crypto to scam people and dodge taxes, but illegal does not equal immoral. Piracy, leaking evidence of war crimes and police abuse, leaking source code to hurt controversial companies, donations to banned groups, even hosting source code for illegal tools. Not all of them benefit from crypto itself but adjacent technologies that need a blockchain like Arweave and ENS. Then there are things like drug dealing and prostitution that have real world harms but not everyone agrees they should be criminal. It's great to have a bunch of different payment methods that can be as anonymous as cash (Monero) or fully programmable with smart wallets to protect you from scams, all without any corporate cartel that could block you. Cyberleek is a great example for both sides of the debate. They used Solana programs and Arweave to make their site uncensorable, but also created a token donation system and market cap goals to make thousands of dollars in the process (a lot for someone probably based in Russia). Is it all morally wrong, or all right, or only wrong for the money side?

throwawayffffas 2mo ago
Listen that's all great in theory, but the vast majority of the actual use is extortions, drug dealing[1], terrorist financing, money laudring and authoritarian regimes evading sanctions. The only value is that it does not go through banks. [1] The moral problem with drug dealing is not the drugs, but the fact the people selling them are using that money to perpuate an incredible circle of violence.
- Stagnant 2mo ago
  Would be nice to hear where you are basing the claim 'vast majority', when different chain analysis companies have been pretty consistent in reporting illicit activity to be closer to 1% of total transaction volume [1][2] 1: https://www.trmlabs.com/fr/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-crypto-crime-report https://www.trmlabs.com/fr/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-cryp... 2: https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-drug-sales-darknet-markets-2026/ https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-drug-sales-darknet-m...

xorcist 2mo ago

The argument that private transactions are only for people with something to hide is one that we should be very careful with. The same could be said about projects like Tor, which we know for certain is used for all sorts of illegal activities, and really just about any use of cryptography use outside of big tech and systems with law enforcement access. It is exactly the same as the argument that all chat and email providers that cannot intercept and store plaintext data should be outlawed. Private chats and private value transfers are used by criminals, there's no question about it. We should think of the children. But the slope is slippery and the question is where to draw the line and what type of society we want to live in. To someone who valued abolishing export mode ciphers and key escrow schemes, the Overton window has really shifted on this.

johndav 2mo ago

[dead]

gos9 2mo ago

Washed up actor tries for headlines on book tour, more at 7

Mare8 2mo ago

[dead]