How Gotham and OC star Ben McKenzie grew to become the largest superstar cryptocurrency critic

Actor Ben McKenzie, who starred in Gotham and the OC, has turn into a vocal critic of cryptocurrency, going so far as calling it the "largest Ponzi scheme in historical past."

McKenzie, who plans to launch a e-book subsequent yr in regards to the cryptocurrency business, grew to become vocal in regards to the problem final yr, writing for Slate about how celebrities selling crypto was a "ethical catastrophe."

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"I might recommend that we celebs do our due diligence on what we lend our assist to, particularly in terms of doubtful 'investments,'" McKenzie wrote with Jacob Silverman for Slate in October 2021. "Proper now, crypto is a wildly anarchic, unregulated type of Wild West monetary capitalism that's fueled by rampant hypothesis, sketchy stablecoins, and the murky dealings of some large whales and insiders whose affect over these markets could also be larger than most merchants notice."

Greater than a yr later, cryptocurrency firm FTX, which aired ads that includes celebrities reminiscent of Tom Brady and Larry David, has collapsed, and skepticism over cryptocurrency is close to an all-time excessive.

On Wednesday, McKenzie testified earlier than the Senate Banking Committee by proclaiming FTX and its subsidiary Alameda Analysis a Ponzi scheme on the identical degree as Bernie Madoff's longtime scheme that defrauded traders out of almost $65 billion.

"Funding contracts which might be successfully worthless are sometimes described as Ponzi schemes, that are regulated underneath American regulation by the Securities and Trade Fee. For my part, the cryptocurrency business represents the biggest Ponzi scheme in historical past," McKenzie mentioned. "The truth is, by the point the mud settles, crypto could effectively characterize a fraud a minimum of 10 occasions larger than Madoff."

McKenzie additionally estimated the individuals defrauded by FTX and others who've invested in numerous cryptocurrencies are being lied to about what they've put cash into.

"I consider they and the estimated 40 million different Individuals who've invested in cryptocurrency have been bought a invoice of products," McKenzie mentioned. "They've been lied to, in methods each large and small, by a once-seemingly mighty crypto business whose total existence actually will depend on misinformation, hype, and sure, fraud."

Talking with CNN This Morning on Thursday, McKenzie talked about how he understood one thing was amiss about cryptocurrency as a result of he understood language from his expertise as an actor.

"I find out about mendacity as a result of I do it for a dwelling. As an actor, you are conscious of what persons are doing and the way they're utilizing language," McKenzie mentioned.

McKenzie referred to as makes an attempt to promote cryptocurrency by calling the blockchain "progressive" or speaking about the way it will create new wealth a lie.

"As I do know as a storyteller, simply because it is a story doesn’t imply it is a true story," McKenzie mentioned.

The Senate listening to McKenzie spoke at additionally included testimony from different consultants, together with Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary.