The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, remains one of the blockchain’s great mysteries. Countless news articles, documentaries, and bits of internet speculation have attempted to unmask Satoshi to no avail. Earlier this month, The New York Times published a massive investigation into who they believed was behind Bitcoin. The man they identified protested that it wasn’t him. Ben McKenzie—yes, Ryan from The O.C.—thinks it’s better, for Bitcoin at least, that he remains unknown. Crypto, he says, “has a lot of aspects of a cult,” and “a deified figure who only exists as a pseudonym” is good for those. Just to be clear, McKenzie doesn’t want this. He’s spent the last five years on a quest to tell anyone who will listen that cryptocurrency is a bad idea. In 2023, he and journalist Jacob Silverman released “Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud,” a book on the topic that includes interviews with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Tether cofounder Brock Pierce, among others. Earlier this month, McKenzie, who has an undergraduate degree in economics, released “Everyone Is Lying to You for Money,” a documentary based on a lot of his experiences investigating crypto and writing the book. As it was rolling out to theaters, McKenzie attended the inaugural WIRED@Night event to talk about the book and film (and read some mean tweets). He also sat down with WIRED’s Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond prior to the doc’s release to discuss his crypto fears—and what might happen to Bitcoin in the future.