Ben McKenzie's Crypto Documentary Exposes Industry Deceit
Actor Ben McKenzie, known for his role as Ryan Atwood in The O.C., has made a documentary about cryptocurrency that raises questions about its legitimacy and ethics. In Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, McKenzie interviews industry executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, who was later convicted on seven charges related to fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
McKenzie also meets with everyday citizens who are being impacted by the cryptocurrency fever. In La Unión, El Salvador, he speaks with residents under threat of displacement due to their president's plan to build a Bitcoin City on their land. The government offered one resident, Wilfredo Claros, a fraction of what his property is worth in exchange for leaving.
McKenzie also interviews Corbin Keegan, an American man who has put all his money into Bitcoin and is waiting for the payoff. He plans to be the first resident of the yet-to-be-built city and is living in an unfinished one-room cinder-block hut with no indoor plumbing.