Ben McKenzie spreading falsehoods about BTC through mainstream media

McKenzie has been making the rounds in the media lately, pushing the idea that BTC and crypto are nothing but scams, with only two purposes: crime and gambling. He also goes as far as to call BTC a cult. There's really no point in rehashing his arguments since it’s clear that folks here don’t buy into what he’s saying. What worries me more is how his views reflect a lot of people's attitudes towards crypto. These opinions could keep spreading over time. He does raise valid concerns about the crypto space, especially regarding the current president's connections with WLFI and his meme coin. The issue is how McKenzie takes these legitimate points and generalizes them to discredit the whole industry. honestly, BTC holds value as long as people see it that way. That's just how it is. It’s the same for gold, Rolexes, and real estate. But if the narrative that BTC is solely for crime keeps getting pushed in the mainstream after all these years, what can we as a BTC community do to combat this misinformation? So far, it feels like we've placed way too much hope in the GOP. Sure, we've seen some favorable regulations, but associating crypto with Trump has likely turned off half of America, if not half the globe.

Yes, bitcoin is a scam. That is the reason companies like Strategy, Metaplanet, Blackrock turned it to business. That is the reason United States has it as a strategic reserve. That is the reason many countries are planning to make it a reserve currency. That is the reason bitcoin is worth over $1 trillion in market value. Some people will just not make research about something, but talk like a fool about the thing because of their lack of knowledge on it. Scamming, money laundering, terrorism financing and other criminal activities that money can be used for, the criminals use fiat far more than bitcoin. I am referring to only bitcoin and not cryptocurrencies.

Something is considered valuable when at least some people value it, this applies to BTC, gold & even FIAT. Regarding negative perceptions that people spread in the mainstream media, I don't think much about it, because in the end, interested people will find out the truth. When average Joe is also told that BTC is a scam, they will surely wonder, then why is BTC being adopted by large public companies & countries?

different people have been saying exactly the same stuff about Bitcoin for many years now, what's the big deal about this particular dude (no idea who it is) ? Bitcoin only kept growing and being adopted each year while those big mouths - nobody remembers them anymore.

And bitcoin (partially, as they've already frozen $340 million worth of stablecoins) is used by some countries to protect their sovereignty from pressure from other countries and to avoid economic blockades. Regarding the cult, I completely agree, as bitcoin's value is currently based entirely on faith in future growth, and there's no need for these fairy tales about technical application and mass adoption, as all of this remains a purely niche application of bitcoin. Let's discuss why it doesn't make sense. I've already expressed my opinion above and partially agree with him. Therefore, your assertion that everyone here disagrees with him (partially) is incorrect. This perception will change. I'm already seeing people starting to see crypto currencies as opportunities to realize their financial freedom (especially when some countries are pressuring others with sanctions, but harmless and ordinary citizens are the ones being targeted). This is either a manifestation of standard rhetoric or a common misunderstanding of the topic under discussion (bitcoin). This applies to everything, but as usual, they only focus on bitcoin. How do you plan to combat disinformation? Justify yourself? That puts you at an even greater disadvantage. I think community  need to demonstrate the useful "value" of bitcoin and the opportunities (non-criminal ones) it provides. Yeah, a decentralized network that exists independently of the traditional financial system is in dire need of regulation.

This is not the first time someone or an organization has promoted fake news about Bitcoin. But the truth is that Bitcoin awareness and adoption keep increasing in the face of these castigations. Donald Trump used Bitcoin for his political campaign, and it worked for him. At least he got some financial support and votes from the industry. The POTUS is not the face of Bitcoin, so any form of generalization is null and void. We cannot stop people from using Bitcoin the way they want, and their actions shouldn't be seen as a threat to the industry. The insinuation that Bitcoin is mainly used for crime is outdated. People are beginning to know that it's not correct. Bitcoin has taken a front role in the global financial system. The ETFs, reserves and others are all proof that the discussion on the global financial system would not be complete without mentioning Bitcoin. Bitcoin is apolitical. Not everyone supports the use of Bitcoin for political gains. Bitcoin doesn't depend on any political party in the US because it has outlived many administrations.

This is not the first time we've seen cases like this and it won't be the last. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and as such Ben McKenzie is just spewing his, although a bit carelessly and in a manner befitting of someone who is ignorant about what they are saying. It's funny that the only use for Bitcoin is for scam and gambling yet we are seeing prominent companies scrambling to invest in it. If this is Ben's way of promoting Bitcoin by shaming it using his platform, it's working but what he won't see coming is that instead of the hate he's hoping to achieve, it will keep growing.  Really, haters gon hate!!

Yeah exactly, people like that usually speak without really understanding it. Calling Bitcoin just scams or gambling ignores how much it’s grown and who’s using it now. Even in things like bitcoin betting, it’s just a tool, not the problem itself.

It's nothing to worry about when someone spreads FUD about Bitcoin. Many people have already said Bitcoin is a scam and merely a tool for fraud. So, having one more person say something like that won't change people's perception of Bitcoin. They're just seeking attention when Bitcoin is booming, it's a common practice for people like them, so it's nothing to be surprised about.

Who cares except stupids and Bitcoin heaters? Fiat also have been using for crime and gambling, why he hasn't spreading negativity about fiat then? Not only disagree, I really don't care. Nevermind, let him spread FUD, it won't affect Bitcoin ecosystem anyway. We can't really blame Bitcoin for any other shitcoins. Bitcoin always will remain as a mother coins. Just ignore the negativity. Once a day haters will regret about their statement, any FUD hasn't succeeded to stop Bitcoin. You don't need to take any action against FUD. Ignoring FUD and continue support Bitcoin would increase the Bitcoin adaption. Doesn't matter who try to make Bitcoin unattractive, it's always attractive for the Bitcoin community. A lot of haters tried to spread the FUD about Bitcoin, but you can see the reality, no one succeeded.

From his documentary, it seems he might have gotten burned either in FTX or some other entity and now he's taking out his frustrations on TV. IMO he's a great actor but knows shit about Bitcoin.

To some conspiracy theorist the US dollar is the biggest financial cult, the Illuminati signs and symbols on the dollar not, the connection to Rockefeller and Rothschild. McKenzie may want to look into the origin of the US dollar. The bitcoin community is the fight against misinformation people like McKenzie are already without knowledge and their misinformation has been essences.

Ben McKenzie, is not the first person that will spread FUD about Bitcoin and by all means he wouldn't be the last, Bitcoin has been surviving the attacks of it's haters and it'll continue to be so in the future. From the time when Bitcoin was created it has been criticized till today but the good thing is that many critics that criticized it have turned around to accept it including myself, maybe McKenzie, also will in the future. I criticized Bitcoin then because it hasn't gained any reputation, not the likes of McKenzie's that have seen today that Bitcoin is a store of value yet they are finding cheap faults to bring it down. Whatever negativity that anybody chooses to spread about Bitcoin wouldn't change what it is and it's potentials to make us very rich after couple of circles. If anybody doesn't criticize something it means that the thing must be worthless so calling Bitcoin a scam shouldn't bother real Bitcoiners.

He is not wrong, just to be honest. You tell me, is it not being used for such illegal activity by bad actors? The answer might shock both you and me. But then why is only BTC always being accused of this, while fiat or gold are not treated the same way? By the way, maybe he does not mean people are storing dirty money in BTC, which I think is not the main case. He might mean the industry itself is being targeted by hackers, and people are laundering and stealing funds from other crypto users using crypto itself. However, in many reports by well-known analysts, it has been suggested that BTC is not the primary token used for this, and that ETH and stablecoins are used more often. You can check it if you want, but that is not something I am claiming myself. To be honest, I am surprised to know that he has an economics degree and still dislikes BTC haha. I used to like his films, but I guess everyone has their own views, and we cannot change that. Thanks for bringing this up though, at least now we know who is saying what.

What are you even talking about, this is a complete lie. There are many individuals and communities that are using Bitcoin every single day. Do not confuse your own ideas with the wider world. Bitcoin is widely adopted even if it is by a minority and it has countless technical applications that are not reproducible with existing centralized solutions. It is wild to see even old forum members spread completely false information about Bitcoin even to this day, this shows just how early we are. Just recently I did some storing of hashes on Bitcoin but I guess you would not know anything about that, it is a fairy tale.   They are not. Bitcoin is financial freedom, crypto currencies are scams that enrich their founders. He is wrong and so are you. Not even 1% of all Bitcoin activity relates to crime and because of that crime should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as Bitcoin anymore. You have false ideas that are not related to what the real world data about Bitcoin is saying. I think this was discussed in some thread a couple months back, maybe d5000 or someone and we have very good data that very little crypto activity relates to crime. Then when you focus only on Bitcoin in that equation and remove ever other crypto, then the number falls even lower. This is because in Bitcoin there are no DeFi hacks and it has no anonymity like Monero, so it is not a good tool for big profile crime. You can't launder money without the fiat system, so this claim would also not be not true. Bitcoin is too transparent to store anything dirty for long unless you are an expert. Most people have wrong views and ideas about many things, we should not be nice towards such things.

What do you call a person who has known about Bitcoin since it was worth less than a thousand Dollars and called it a scam, saw it pass 1,000 Dollars and called it a scam, saw it 5 times more at 5,000 and called it a scam, saw it double at 10,000 and called it a scam, saw it at 20,000 and called it a scam, hoped it would drop to zero after that and smiled knowing it is a scam and saw it pass 100,000 and still calls it a scam? I call that being dumb as a brick.

Crime and gambling to him was invented 2009 What we had in the past was reallocation of resources Even if he doesn't want to accept Bitcoin or doesn't trust it He should atleast try to be creative. Imagine Bitcoin is a cult, I haven't seen people worshipping it Just using it. Nothing much People choose to believe what they want to believe Just like I believe Dogs are cuter than cats.

Fudders will fud. He's not interested in learning about bitcoin nor knowing the truth so it's pointless talking to the like of him. Best way to prevent this is to simply educate people about bitcoin and why it needs to exist in the first place. But here's the thing. His lies only works to ignorant older generation, the newer generation knows bitcoin is legit and even experienced first hand. I'm sure people have seen through his lies and misinformation.

Ben McKenzie comes off as a used car salesman. Like a lot of washed up celebrities he has turned to full time grifting to remain relevant. He conflates Bitcoin with centralized scamcoins hoping that people will be too dumb to tell the difference. To his credit, many average people are very uninformed about cryptocurrency and will just believe that Bitcoin is a scam because a few smart sounding people on TV told them it was so. It is absolutely true that Bitcoin is used by criminals. The entire point of Bitcoin is that it is a neutral protocol that anybody can use without permission. As somebody who is a prominent supporter of the supposed opposition party, you would think that McKenzie would be more distrustful of government authority. The reason he isn’t, is because Democrats have to protect the status quo for when it’s their turn to be corrupt autocrats. McKenzie has to attack Bitcoin because it is a financial system that isn’t beholden to his political agenda.

Before Bitcoin was invented, there was crime and gambling! The invention of meme coins for trading and increasing your bitcoins. It is true that meme coins have no future, but this kind of propaganda about Bitcoin has been going on for a long time, and I now consider them normal. I sold many Bitcoins at low prices by listening to such news and rumors, which I still regret. But when I understood that such news is a part of market manipulation and trading, my opinion kept changing. Many people have fallen into the trap of this sub-rumor and this kind of propaganda will come more in the future, so it is better not to listen to this matter.