Actor and author Ben McKenzie didn’t set out to become one of crypto’s fiercest critics—but when the pandemic hit and Hollywood shut down, his curiosity turned into a full-blown investigation. The result was the bestselling book, Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, a blistering exposé of the crypto craze as “casino capitalism” at its dumbest. In this episode, McKenzie joins Nick and Goldy to explain how the industry turned hype and libertarian fantasy into a trillion-dollar bubble, why the true believers won’t let go, and how fake “innovation” and corporate lobbying are putting the entire financial system at risk. They dig into the cult psychology of crypto, the rise of legalized gambling as an addiction economy, and why letting corporations issue their own “money” could end in disaster.

Crypto is back—new hype cycles, rising prices, and fresh promises that this time, cryptocurrency is changing the financial system for good. But the questions haven’t changed: is this innovation or just another wave of speculation, scams, and financial fraud? That’s why we’re revisiting this conversation with actor and author Ben McKenzie—whose bestselling book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, and new documentary, Everyone is Lying to You For Money, are once again fueling the debate over crypto’s real impact. What started as curiosity became a deeper look at how the crypto boom blurred the line between investing and gambling—and what that reveals about an economy increasingly driven by speculation instead of real value. McKenzie joins Nick and Goldy to pull back the curtain on the hype, the believers, and the system that made it all possible.