“The O.C.” and “Southland” actor and author Ben McKenzie Schenkkan testified Wednesday on the collapse of cryptocurrency firm FTX.
Outspoken cryptocurrency critic and actor Ben McKenzie Schenkkan told Senate lawmakers the digital currency industry is a massive “Ponzi scheme” and a “fraud” Wednesday during a hearing on the collapse of FTX.
Schenkkan, who has starred in roles for “The O.C.,” “Southland” and “Gotham,” appeared as an expert witness on a panel before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. He holds an undergraduate economics degree and has previously partnered with journalist Jacob Silverman to criticize other celebrities who have endorsed cryptocurrencies, accusing them of “shilling” and contributing to a “moral disaster.”
Committee members are probing how cryptocurrency should be regulated in the wake of crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy and the criminal charges filed against its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Schenkkan compared Bankman-Fried to infamous financial fraudster Bernie Madoff, noting that Madoff ripped off about 37,000 clients. FTX claimed a customer base that is 32 times larger in the U.S. alone, he said.
“According to FTX, some 1.2 million retail traders, a.k.a. regular folks, and five million worldwide, have lost access to the money they entrusted to FTX. It is unclear when, if ever, they will get any of that money back,” Schenkkan said.
SENATORS SLAM SAM BANKMAN-FRIED FOR REFUSING TO TESTIFY BEFORE BANKING PANEL…
