‘Stop Trying to Unmask Satoshi Nakamoto’ Says Actor Ben McKenzie
episodePreviously titled “Why Actor Ben McKenzie is on an Anti-Crypto Crusade” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 4, 2026
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What led Ben McKenzie to become an anti-cryptocurrency advocate?
From Wired, this is The Big Interview, where we'll get to know the people behind the headlines in conversations that explore the intersection of technology, power, and culture. I'm Katie Drummond, Wired's Global Editorial Director, and people of a certain age may know my next guest as an actor, but these days you're equally likely to know him for his other leading role, crusading against cryptocurrency.
In my opinion, the cryptocurrency industry represents the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Surveying the cryptocurrency mania during the summer of last year, I came to a terrifying conclusion. The supposedly multi-trillion dollar industry was nothing more than a massive speculative bubble bound to pop.
That's Ben McKenzie testifying before Congress on the spectacular collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in late November 2022. McKenzie, who has an undergrad degree in economics, has written a book on the subject. And now he's out with a new documentary, Everyone is Lying to You for Money. Very good name, I must say. Ben's here now. Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me, Katie. It's an honor to be here. We are delighted to have you here. And I had intended to start with that congressional testimony, and I want to get back to that in a minute. But I actually was just at my desk upstairs and was reading this New York Times piece that came out today. We're talking in early April. This episode will come out in a few weeks.
But it was this sweeping investigation, yet another sweeping investigation into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. And I'm not even interested in talking about who Satoshi is. Me either, actually.
Interestingly enough.
I haven't cared about that for a really long time. But this piece came out and I knew we were talking. And I'm just so curious about your impressions of this sort of like mythology experience. And online fascination and almost sort of obsession with this like mythical figure, this magician, this wizard who created Bitcoin and sort of catalyzed this entire movement that we're now talking about. What are your thoughts on that? Sort of like why does that exist and how does it feed into what you're sort of getting at around cryptocurrency today?
Yeah, I mean, if you think of crypto as a story, right, as not really – it doesn't really function as a currency unless it's sort of a black market currency.
What are the main arguments against cryptocurrency presented by McKenzie?
It's sort of a speculative thing. You can bet on the price going up and down. You can use it for committing crime, for getting paid for committing crime. But it's a story with this really devoted small following.
Mm-hmm.
And it has a lot of aspects of a cult. And one great thing for a cult is to have this deified figure who only exists as a pseudonym. Because in reality, it might be maybe this guy Adam Back, who we can talk about, who's a very interesting character, or some other cypherpunk cryptographer from that era. But then it would be a real person, and a real person would be a little bit of a letdown probably, right? Whoever it is, yeah. Yeah, right? I mean, it's just such a better story to have it be a mystery and to have the code take on this mythological status as like... You know, it's going to fix everything that ails our traditional financial sector. Because the crypto story is really simple. It's basically, do you hate our current system?
Everybody raises their hand. And then, well, Bitcoin fixes this. And it's the second part that's the lie. I would argue it's far worse if we were to try to somehow use cryptocurrency as a form of money on a global scale or even a national scale. But the story is really simple and it's so powerful because the first part we all agree on, you know, our current system sucks. And so it gets them pretty far.
I will admit, I mean, I love a long story. I did finally at one point was like, oh, I gotta just scroll to the end. Like, did they get the guy? And yet again... We are not sort of like dead to rights, it's this guy. He's not like, yes, you got me, it's me. And I would imagine that whoever it is, it is advantageous for that person, if they are still alive, to retain that sort of mysterious, mythical air about them, right?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led Ben McKenzie to become an anti-cryptocurrency advocate?
0:00–2:21
2
What are the main arguments against cryptocurrency presented by McKenzie?
2:21–5:24
3
How does McKenzie describe the cryptocurrency industry?
5:24–7:31
4
What insights does McKenzie share about his congressional testimony?
7:31–10:04
5
What are the implications of cryptocurrency on crime and scams?
10:04–13:10
6
How does McKenzie view the role of government in regulating cryptocurrency?
13:10–17:12
7
What personal experiences influenced McKenzie's views on cryptocurrency?
17:12–20:48
8
What future does McKenzie envision for cryptocurrency and its regulation?
20:48–36:14
Speakers
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