Ben McKenzie Says Crypto Has a Secret Ingredient: Male Loneliness

The actor-director discussed his least favorite currency and read a series of mean tweets—about us!—at our inaugural WIRED@Night event.

Ben McKenzie had a question: “When did WIRED die?” Specifically, the actor-director wanted to know when did WIRED “‘DIE,’ all caps.”

McKenzie wasn’t asking for himself; he was engaging in the time-honored celebrity tradition of reading mean tweets. Although, in this case, the object wasn’t himself so much as the publication hosting the event. McKenzie, who famously played Ryan on The O.C. before becoming a leading voice of crypto skepticism, was sharing the stage with WIRED senior correspondent Andy Greenberg for the first of what will hopefully be a series of smaller events that we are calling WIRED@Night.

Last Thursday, about a hundred people gathered at event partner Ace Hotel Brooklyn to sip drinks from Aplos, Faccia Brutto, The Sorting Table, and Manojo and ...