Happy Nice Mall

ROCKDALE, TX — Ben McKenzie drives his father’s silver Subaru through Texas farmland, gasping in exploding talk about money: who has it, who needs it, what’s real or fake. He detailed the dangers of cryptocurrency exchanges, online brokers who sell Bitcoin and Ether to speculators, followed by economist Thomas Piketty’s income inequality and the power of wealthy capitalists.

“If they can make money off of it, they will,” said Mr. McKenzie, 43, as he raced past cattle ranches and seedy gas stations one morning in March.

Mr. McKenzie was on his way to Whinstone USA, about an hour outside of Austin, a crypto mining operation where rows of power-hungry machines generate new Bitcoins. As in the last six months A-list celebrities have shillings for digital currencies and NFTsMcKenzie, a television actor best known for his lead role in “The OC,” has become an outspoken skeptic. he is written Critically speaking about Kim Kardashian’s #advertisement on Instagram and for the little-known bucks she posts in earnest she asked While Reese Witherspoon admits she’s not a financial expert, she urged her to stop spreading her own religion about the metaverse.

“I’m just a former teen idol standing here asking people (alone?) to consider the downside risks and the possibility of fraud,” she said. tweeted out in February.

In the early 2000s, Mr. McKenzie played Ryan Atwood, a thoughtful, muscular teenager who moves into a wealthy family in Newport Beach, California. He starred in two other TV series “Southland” and “Gotham”, both of which lasted for five seasons.

But during the pandemic, the acting business dried up, and like many people, Mr. McKenzie soon found himself caught in a crypto rabbit hole. After several friends encouraged him to invest, a 24-episode online course on cryptocurrencies taught by Gary Gensler (or simply “Gary” as Mr. McKenzie affectionately called it), chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; they have never met before.

Mr McKenzie said that the crypto market appears to have been designed specifically for scams. He believed that the skyrocketing valuations of popular coins were fueled by reckless speculation rather than any practical application of the technology. “It doesn’t do what currencies do,” he said. “Not a reliable store of value, unit of account, or medium of exchange.”

In August, Mr. McKenzie sent a Twitter DM to The New Republic’s tech writer, Jacob Silverman. article “Even Donald Trump Knows Bitcoin Is A Scam.” “I would love to pick your brain,” the actor wrote. “If everything is so weird, feel free to ignore it.”

It caught the attention of Mr. Silverman, an “OC” audience. Him and Mr. McKenzie, both living in BrooklynThey met for beers and burgers at Henry Public. Mr. McKenzie proposed a book project; Mr. Silverman agreed immediately. “I also began to understand Ben’s sense of anger at what he saw and the potential goosebumps of ordinary people,” said Mr. Silverman. Abrams Press plans to publish his books, “Easy money“In 2023.

Mr McKenzie said his newfound passion had left his friends “supportive but confused”, while the wife of former “Gotham” star Morena Baccarin was “tired of me talking about it”. Mr. McKenzie holds a BA in economics from the University of Virginia and has had occasional conversations over the years with his father, Pete Schenkkan, a regulatory lawyer in Austin, about the intersection of law and finance. Still, Mr. Schenkkan said he was “surprised” when he learned of his son’s obsession with crypto. “It was a sideways leap from the rest of his life.”

The project is also a divergence from how many celebrities have approached crypto. Matt Damon revealed now disgrace Commercial for Crypto.com, a trading platform. Paris Hilton sells NFTs. inside article Mr Silverman and Mr McKenzie wrote for Slate in October that celebrity ads expose ordinary consumers to scams such as “carpet pulling”, in which an anonymous developer requests funds from investors and then disappears with the money. “The Hollywoodization of cryptos,” they wrote, “is a moral disaster.”

Mr. McKenzie has joined a growing group of skeptics and critics known as “without money”. In February “Crypto Critics Corner”, a podcast hosted by Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey that airs two episodes per week about the risks of decentralized finance and other crypto startups.

Non-coins are usually targets While trolling can work both ways, online abuse. “I’ve had a lot of fights,” said Mr. Tomlin. “Most of the time, I was the one trying to initiate conflicts by trying to signal to people, ‘Before you said it, you’re saying it now’.”

Non-coins have some of the same idiosyncratic obsessions as crypto bros; Like their foes, they gather on Discord and Twitter to exchange tips and memes and are fluent in abbreviation-heavy jargon. Mr McKenzie acknowledges an unusual addition to their ranks, which consists largely of a following. journalists, software engineers and academics. “I’m an actor,” he said. “I do not know what I’m doing.”

Mr. McKenzie’s past also gives him some advantages. Many crypto brothers try to silence skeptics with the same mic drop: “Have fun staying poor.” “They don’t use that line much with me,” said Mr. McKenzie. “Want to compare real money bank accounts?”

But in the noisy world of crypto, TV fame doesn’t necessarily mean influence. Before setting off for the mine, Mr. McKenzie led a panel on South by Southwest called “Trust Me I’m Famous”. The session took place in a large hall with many empty seats. A group of young fans cheer When Mr. McKenzie introduced himself as Ryan from “The OC,” they spent the rest of the event sticking it to their smartphones describing the dangers of unregulated securities trading. (She found her 6-year-old daughter, Frances, slumped in her seat at the end of the panel. “I know it was boring,” she said. “Are you mad at me?”)

Mr. McKenzie’s celebrity did not open any doors in Whinstone, where he and Mr. Silverman were hoping to do book research. When Mr. McKenzie entered the parking lot, a concerned-looking security guard asked him to identify himself. “I’m an actor,” said Mr. McKenzie. Had the Warden seen “Gotham”? No. What about “OC”? Also no. “Ask your daughter about ‘OC’,” Mr. McKenzie replied with a grin. A second security guard said had He watched “The OC” but did not recognize Mr. McKenzie.

After a few more minutes of confusion (one of the guards continued to refer to the mine’s famous visitor as “Bill McKlensley”), the security team sent Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Silverman, and a cameraman who had documented their trips to meet with Chad Harris. former christmas tree vendor He currently manages the Whinstone factory, which was acquired by public Bitcoin mining company Riot Blockchain last year.

Mr. Harris seemed as comfortable as the actor-turned-critic who showed up to argue with him in front of the camera; He said he gave 1,000 tours for the facility. “I know which way to turn my shoulder,” he said as the photographers arrived at the mine.

Mr. Harris said he was confident he could be alone with any skeptic; He recently boasted from Vice News that he trained some crypto-haters. “You can’t beat something if you don’t know all the facts,” he said. At one point, he boldly guessed that Mr. McKenzie could change his mind on crypto with a single sentence. For several minutes, he continued to talk about the economic benefits of Bitcoin mining.

Mr. Harris led Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Silverman through a large warehouse filled with hundreds of spinning machines. The cameraman captured footage of Mr. McKenzie wearing a hard hat, and Mr. Harris nodded wisely as he explained the intricacies of the liquid-immersion cooling system that keeps mining rigs from getting too hot. In “The OC,” Ryan is a repressed well of emotion who rarely gives up a clue of his thoughts. Mr. McKenzie, by contrast, is a talker: For two hours, he questioned Mr. Harris about the energy costs of crypto mining and the practical usefulness of Bitcoin with the camera spinning.

Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Silverman came up with the idea of ​​adapting their as yet unwritten book into a kind of Hollywood production. They model the project on Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short” about knowledgeable investors who predicted the 2008 housing market crash. In the movie adaptation, Margot Robbie drinks champagne in the tub as she explains the subprime mortgage crisis.

“Jacob and I with straps,” said Mr. McKenzie. “Probably drives people away.” Mr. Silverman laughed. “I’m going to the gym for a month,” she said.

If that doesn’t work, there’s always TV. McKenzie said he invited “OC” creator Josh Schwartz to a reboot that traces an evolution from villain to lover of a cryptocurrency billionaire, perhaps Luke Ward’s son. boyfriendMoves to Newport Beach and takes control of the local real estate market.

Mr. Schwartz “laughed politely,” said Mr McKenzie. (In an interview, Mr. Schwartz suggested an alternative crypto-themed follow-up that included complex political intrigues led by Luke’s younger brothers. He added that Ryan’s nerdy best friend Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, would “definitely try to sell some of the NFT’s.” Mr. Brody, reached by text, said he agreed. “Or he’d be selling bongs from a van,” said Mr. Brody. “I don’t know.”)

After the tour, Mr. Harris took Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Silverman to the building where the mine’s management office is located, which mine personnel refer to as the “White House”. Standing by the door, Mr. McKenzie pressured Mr. Harris about his cryptocurrency commitments. Wasn’t it just another form of gambling? A high-stakes poker game with no real social value?

Mr. Harris shrugged. He said he was comfortable taking financial risks. “Think of it as parallel to your own life,” she said. McKenzie took a hiatus from acting and risked his reputation to write a book claiming the nation’s tech elite was promoting a lauded Ponzi scheme. “Life is a gamble,” said Mr. Harris.

For a moment Mr. McKenzie looked thoughtfully, like Ryan Atwood again.

“That’s true,” he said. “This is true.”