Ben McKenzie

Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud

by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman  · 17 Jul 2023  · 329pp  · 99,504 words

and what we owe each other.” —ZACHARY CARTER, author of The Price of Peace “A superb and disturbing examination into the corrupt world of crypto. Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman take us on the road—from Austin to El Salvador—as they explore the bizarre new universe of finance that is filled

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just the gambler in me, but I liked my chances. ° ° ° Two weeks after the Super Bowl, the headline in Variety blared: ‘The O.C.’ Star Ben McKenzie, Journalist Jacob Silverman Sell ‘Easy Money,’ Book About Cryptocurrency, to Abrams Press. After a few setbacks, Jacob and I had managed to convince Abrams Press

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Silverman, “Even Donald Trump Knows Bitcoin Is a Scam,” New Republic, June 7, 2021. CHAPTER 2: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? 27 My first byline: Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman, “Celebrity Crypto Shilling Is a Moral Disaster,” Slate, October 7, 2021. CHAPTER 3: MONEY PRINTER GO BRRR 32 For our second journalistic

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collaboration: Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman, “Untethered,” Slate, October 17, 2021. 32 director of compliance for Excapsa: Stuart Hoegner, “Deputy GC, Director of Compliance, Excapsa, Jan 2006–Dec

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digital currencies: Exploring impact beyond energy use,” One Earth, June 18, 2021. CHAPTER 6: THE BUSINESS OF SHOW 91 our months-long investigation into . . . Binance: Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman, “Why users are pushing back against the world’s largest crypto exchange,” Washington Post, April 1, 2022. 92 crypto took off in

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, 2022. 103 It was Brock Pierce: Interview with Brock Pierce, Bitcoin 2022 (Miami, FL), April 7, 2022. 106 Eric Adams. . . . in the form of Bitcoin: Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman, “The Embarrassment of New York’s Next Mayor Taking His Paychecks in Bitcoin,” Slate, November 5, 2021. 109 O’Leary was particularly

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, “How Bukele Crafted a Best-Selling Political Brand,” El Faro, May 3, 2022. 119 rollout of the government’s Chivo Wallet system: Jacob Silverman and Ben McKenzie, “Nayib Bukele’s Broken Bitcoin Promise,” The Intercept, July 22, 2022. 120 a horrific spree of gang violence: Associated Press, “El Salvador locks down prisons

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was blown away . . . during a Zoom call: Sequoia Capital, profile on Sam Bankman-Fried from Sequoiacap.com (since removed), September 22, 2022. 156 We began: Ben McKenzie interview with Sam Bankman-Fried, 1 Hotel Central Park (New York, NY), July 2022. CHAPTER 10: WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE? 180 Elon Musk . . . promoted

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, “Crypto Industry Amasses Washington Insiders as Lobbying Blitz Intensifies,” https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/crypto-industry-amasses-washington-insiders-lobbying-blitz-intensifies. 186 Mark Hays: Ben McKenzie interview with Mark Hays, Summer 2022. 188 The United States of America is unique: Conversations with Lee Reiners (policy director at the Duke Financial Economics

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Center and a lecturing fellow at Duke Law), Summer 2022. 193 John Reed Stark: Ben McKenzie interview with John Reed Stark, Maryland, August 2022. 198 Two weeks later, Kim Kardashian: press release, “SEC Charges Kim Kardashian for Unlawfully Touting Crypto Security

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Commission, October 3, 2022, https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-183. CHAPTER 11: UNBANKRUPT YOURSELF 199 James Block developed an interest in fraud: Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman interviews with James Block, Spring and Summer 2022. 200 Celsius stood out: James Block, various articles at Dirty Bubble Media, https://Dirtybubblemedia

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.com/2022/08/19/crypto-firm-ftx-receives-cease-and-desist-from-fdic-about-insurance.html. 218 He slid into my DMs: Direct Messages between Ben McKenzie and Sam Bankman-Fried. 220 Alameda’s balance sheet: Ian Allison, “Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda

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, Charles Madoff, Bernie Makarov, Igor manias Marcel (digital artist) Marmion, Jean-François Marroquín, Carlos Mashinsky, Alex Mashinsky, Krissy Massad, Timothy McCaffrey, Mike McConnell, Mitch McKenzie, Ben McKenzie, Patrick medium of exchange Mevrex The Mirror Protocol misinformation Money (Goldstein, J.) Moneymaker, Chris money market funds (MMFs) Montell, Amanda Moore, Stephen Morgan, Heather Morgan

You'll Grow Out of It

by Jessi Klein  · 11 Jul 2016  · 219pp  · 73,623 words

wearing contacts, so my vision is a little loopy. But this man looks familiar. I squint, squint again, and then realize, holy shit: It’s Ben McKenzie. Ben McKenzie! You know, the lead of The O.C., my favorite TV show from 2003 to 2007. He played Ryan. Ryan who was from the wrong

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on Homeland. I have never seen a woman less troubled by another woman approaching her boyfriend than Morena Baccarin was by me going up to Ben McKenzie. I tap him on the shoulder and say “Hi” and then Amy jumps in and says she wants to take a picture of us. He

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our interest in taking this photo is ironic. That we are somehow making fun of him. And that is when it dawns on me: Even Ben McKenzie feels a little bit like dogshit. But how could this be possible? He was the star of The O.C.! He was Ryan! He is

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’s the butt of a joke. That maybe he is being compared to his former O.C. self and found lacking. Even Ben McKenzie does not feel like a Prinzezzz. Ben McKenzie, who has everything. Years ago, I read an interview with Nicole Kidman where she talked about winning her Oscar for The Hours

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work on Mad Men/Scandal/Game of Thrones! You have earned a doughnut hole.” 3 If you are curious what it feels like to have Ben McKenzie’s arm around you, it’s like being in the womb. You feel like you are asleep under a cashmere rainbow. You feel safe. You