Ben McKenzie, actor and well-known critic of cryptocurrencies, is set to make his directorial debut at SXSW London with the premiere in June of his documentary, "Everyone is Lying to You for Money," according to a report from Deadline.
The documentary follows McKenzie—better known for his roles in "The O.C." and "Gotham"—as he investigates the crypto ecosystem and interviews key figures, including a trip to El Salvador to examine the regime of President Nayib Bukele, who made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021.
"When I started warning people about cryptocurrency fraud in the fall of 2021, I received a lot of criticism from the guys online," McKenzie told Deadline. "Now, many of those guys are in jail, and unfortunately, millions of investors lost their shirts to these scammers."
"Everyone is Lying to You for Money" also features interviews with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Celsius co-founder Alex Mashinsky. Both interviews were filmed before their companies collapsed into bankruptcy in July and November of 2022, respectively.
McKenzie began exploring cryptocurrencies in 2021, while the world was still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he has been a vocal critic, including testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee about the collapse of FTX.
Released in 2023, McKenzie's book with journalist Ben Silverman, "Easy Money: Cryptocurrencies, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud," explored many of the same themes that the documentary will touch on.
