Ben McKenzie, actor known for his roles in television series as Gotham and The OC, speaks out against public figures endorsing projects in the cryptocurrency space without seemingly disparaging the technology itself.
In collaboration with Jacob Silverman, The New Republic writer McKenzie caused a sensation in early October after writing with his partner an article in Slate titled “Celebrity Crypto Shilling Is a Moral Disaster” (lit. Celebrity endorsement of cryptocurrencies is a moral disaster). The duo drew attention to Kim Kardashian’s Instagram account promoting the token. EthereumMax (EMAX) in early June, a project whose price gained 116,000% in just one week before losing more than 99% of its value, leaving many in the red.
“Celebrities are lending their names and promotional talents to everything from NFT to crypto exchanges to their own custom coin offerings,” Silverman and McKenzie said. “Together they are communicating something clear but terribly misleading: that cryptocurrencies, and the many murky areas of this gray market economy, offer a path to sustainable wealth. The truth is almost always the opposite.”
Adding:
“These rich and famous entertainers could well be promoting payday loans or seating their audience at a rigged blackjack table. While the wild ups and downs of cryptocurrency can be exciting for some, the rewards for many are illusory.”
While much of the criticism from Silverman and McKenzie is directed at actors and influencers who do not necessarily know the types of projects in which they recommend their followers to invest, they have also drawn the attention of legislators. When New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced that he would accept his first three payments in Bitcoin (BTC), the duo referred to it as “an embarrassingly stupid move,” Beyond merely trying to get publicity, you can set the bar higher for other political candidates.
“Pledging allegiance to the cult of Bitcoin, promising to become a low-tax space for cryptocurrencies, rolling the red carpet to venture capitalists investing in this industry – all of this is fast becoming tabletop stakes for believing mayors of the technological one “, Silverman and McKenzie said. “[No es] a good idea for a public official to promote gambling for his full pay in what is essentially an unlicensed and unregulated casino. “
Here’s a CNN video piece about what @ben_mckenzie and I are up to with all this crypto skeptic stuff.https: //t.co/z3JJmlOclV
– Jacob Silverman (@SilvermanJacob) November 30, 2021
Here’s a CNN video on what Ben Mckenzie and I are doing with all this crypto-skepticism.
CNN published an interview with McKenzie on November 23, referring to the actor as someone who “is practically alone as a celebrity willing to publicly challenge the trend of cryptocurrencies.” Unlike some figures like the gold bug Peter Schiff, who regularly calls BTC investments inferior to traditional assets, McKenzie seemed to be more concerned about trends around “pump and dump” projects and their famous supporters who are “unwittingly involved in something that is harmful to others.” According to the actor, cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology may continue to play an important role in the future of finance, but “the rich and famous people who power these products” have not earned the trust of investors to make seemingly spurious claims.
McKenzie has no shortage of figures to address, as many professional players, like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, they have linked their names to cryptocurrency exchanges through endorsement deals. In Hollywood, Matt Damon recently became one of the biggest celebrities to promote a crypto company after appearing in a TV ad for Crypto.com.
In his October 7th article on Slate, The ‘crypto critics’ added:
“Whether it’s Lindsay Lohan selling five-figure NFTs, laser-eyed Tom Brady backing the FTX exchange, or Akon promising to build a $ 6 billion crypto-inspired city in Senegal, there’s a lot of capital revolving around this industry. , and many reasons for concern. Celebrities are encouraging their fans to bet on speculative and unproven investments that could soon see a major regulatory crackdown, if not a total market implosion. “
Keep reading: