The Aporia · The Cult and Corruption of Cryptocurrency

The Cult and Corruption of Cryptocurrency

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The Cult and Corruption of Cryptocurrency. (2026, August 26). Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/ben-mckenzie-cult-corruption-cryptocurrency-sbf/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Television actor Ben McKenzie launched an investigation into cryptocurrency for his documentary film "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money", which explores why people continue to invest in digital currency despite its risks. The film focuses on McKenzie's journey and features interviews with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested months after the interview took place. McKenzie expresses concerns about the "cult-like behavior" of crypto investors and shares poignant conversations with everyday people who lost everything but still believe in digital currency.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Ben McKenzie, an actor known for TV shows like The O.C. and Gotham, has created a documentary film called "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money" that explores the world of cryptocurrency. In the film, McKenzie argues that crypto is not the future of money, but rather its past, as it has failed before. He also expresses concern about the "cult-like behavior" of those investing in digital currency, despite knowing the risks. McKenzie shares his interview with Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, who was arrested months later, and discusses conversations he had with everyday people who lost everything on crypto investments but still believe in its power. The documentary is available on various podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Written for “Cryptocurrency Scandals Emerge” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Trump’s Crypto Corruption Is Off The Charts — Mehdi and Ben McKenzie Explore Why different event · 80%

Zeteo

⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10

“They cover different aspects of a related topic, and mention the documentary 'Everyone Is Lying to You For Money' but do not describe the same specific happening”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

14%

1 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly right

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

95/100

Mother Jones's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Technology

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-08-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Mother Jones · 305 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article, beyond the feed's “Reveal”.

Topics

Apple Podcasts FTX Pandora Spotify iHeartRadio

Subjects

McKenzie PERSON · 2× Al Letson PERSON · 1× Apple Podcasts ORG · 1× Ben McKenzie PERSON · 1× FTX ORG · 1× Pandora ORG · 1× Sam Bankman-Fried PERSON · 1× Spotify ORG · 1× iHeartRadio ORG · 1×

Narrative

On this week’s More To The Story, McKenzie shares his concerns for what he calls the cult-like behavior of those investing in digital currency, talks about his interview with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried just months before his arrest, and discusses the poignant conversations he had with everyday people who trusted the power of digital currency and lost everything—yet are still crypto believers.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-26

🔮 Ben McKenzie might seem like an unlikely choice to launch an investigation into the complicated world of cryptocurrency.

2026-08-26 · Mother Jones

The Cult and Corruption of Cryptocurrency · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 1 hedged)

Ben McKenzie might seem like an unlikely choice to launch an investigation into the complicated world of cryptocurrency. uncertain

McKenzie → seem → cryptocurrency

But the television actor known for shows like The O.C. and Gotham did exactly that. asserted

actor → know → that

His documentary film, Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, is a deep dive into the people and companies at the heart of crypto. asserted

Everyone → lie → crypto

The film focuses on McKenzie’s journey to discover why people continue to invest in digital currency even while knowing the risks of this highly under-regulated market. asserted

people → focus → market

“I think crypto is not only not the future of money, it’s the past of money,” he tells host Al Letson. asserted

he → think → Letson

“And it’s something we’ve tried before and it’s failed asserted

it → ’ → ?

who → share → everything