Ben McKenzie
@benmckenzie.bsky.social
EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU FOR MONEY - @docnyc https://www.docnyc.net/film/everyone-is-lying-to-you-for-money/
Pinned
Ben McKenzie
@benmckenzie.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Went on @msnbc.com to talk crypto grift. Plus, a sneak peak of the film I directed, EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU FOR MONEY playing @docnycfest.bsky.social this weekend!
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
JUST IN: CBS’s Kennedy Center Honors just hit an all-time ratings low. Preliminary Nielsen data shows only ~2.65M viewers tuned in to the Trump-hosted show, down from 4.1M in 2024. A stunning 35% year-over-year collapse.
December 24, 2025 at 7:59 PM
JUST IN: CBS’s Kennedy Center Honors just hit an all-time ratings low. Preliminary Nielsen data shows only ~2.65M viewers tuned in to the Trump-hosted show, down from 4.1M in 2024. A stunning 35% year-over-year collapse.
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Things are going great over at X, The Everything App
December 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Things are going great over at X, The Everything App
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
NEW: Humanitarian officials staged a last-minute plea to Trump officials at their fancy hotel to re-start food aid $ for a huge refugee camp in Kenya.
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
December 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
NEW: Humanitarian officials staged a last-minute plea to Trump officials at their fancy hotel to re-start food aid $ for a huge refugee camp in Kenya.
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
The Trumpers blew it off and babies starved.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy
www.propublica.org/article/keny...
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Do Kwon gets 15 years for crypto crimes, even longer than prosecutors had asked for. from @joelkhalili.bsky.social and @carolinehaskins.bsky.social
Crypto Magnate Do Kwon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison
The founder of Terraform Labs was sentenced today for lying about “experimental” coins that blew a $40 billion hole in the crypto economy.
www.wired.com
December 11, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Do Kwon gets 15 years for crypto crimes, even longer than prosecutors had asked for. from @joelkhalili.bsky.social and @carolinehaskins.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
December 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
December 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Well said @seancasten.bsky.social
When the House and Senate marked up stablecoin legislation, we raised all of these concerns - their anonymity, their nearly perfect design for money laundering. All the barn doors were left wide open. It’s used for crime because that is its purpose. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/t...
How a Cryptocurrency Helps Criminals Launder Money and Evade Sanctions
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Well said @seancasten.bsky.social
GREAT reporting here, although I admit the headline made me chuckle.
“Could Tether do more to stop financial crime?”
Well, yes they could stop committing it, for one.
“Could Tether do more to stop financial crime?”
Well, yes they could stop committing it, for one.
Cryptocurrency giant Tether is wildly profitable. Can it do more to stop financial crime? We examined a single crypto wallet address that moved more than $1.4 billion in Tether tokens over a matter of weeks and the wake of destruction it left: www.icij.org/investigatio... @icij.org
Cryptocurrency giant Tether is wildly profitable. Can it do more to stop financial crime? - ICIJ
At least $1.4 billion of its tokens passed through a crypto wallet linked to scams, hacks, and human trafficking.
www.icij.org
December 2, 2025 at 10:41 PM
GREAT reporting here, although I admit the headline made me chuckle.
“Could Tether do more to stop financial crime?”
Well, yes they could stop committing it, for one.
“Could Tether do more to stop financial crime?”
Well, yes they could stop committing it, for one.
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
December 2, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
Like subprime, but dumber
December 1, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Like subprime, but dumber
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
BOSTON—Stressing that the move would help keep digital currencies liquid through the coming year, crypto leaders called for an infusion of 20 million dopes Thursday to stabilize the market. “We’re cal...
theonion.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
They. Are. Terrified.
Johnson and Trump Try to Avoid an Upset House Loss in Tennessee
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
They. Are. Terrified.
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
I wrote this @thenation.com to keep from howling from my rooftop. "After the DC National Guard Shooting Comes the Big Lie." tinyurl.com/2456cc46
After the DC National Guard Shooting Comes the Big Lie
West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, is inventing reasons for the National Guard to occupy Washington, DC. We cannot let his outrageous fabrications take hold.
tinyurl.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I wrote this @thenation.com to keep from howling from my rooftop. "After the DC National Guard Shooting Comes the Big Lie." tinyurl.com/2456cc46
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
And this is so obnoxious because actual-politics is kind of a fucking layup right now.
Your opponents are running a historically corrupt government.
Be anti-corruption. Run on fixing the shit they broke, holding assholes accountable, and improving people’s lives.
Duh.
Your opponents are running a historically corrupt government.
Be anti-corruption. Run on fixing the shit they broke, holding assholes accountable, and improving people’s lives.
Duh.
November 30, 2025 at 3:11 PM
And this is so obnoxious because actual-politics is kind of a fucking layup right now.
Your opponents are running a historically corrupt government.
Be anti-corruption. Run on fixing the shit they broke, holding assholes accountable, and improving people’s lives.
Duh.
Your opponents are running a historically corrupt government.
Be anti-corruption. Run on fixing the shit they broke, holding assholes accountable, and improving people’s lives.
Duh.
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
New York City helped my mother become the artist she is today. The next generation deserves a City Hall that lifts up tomorrow's artists as well.
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 AM
New York City helped my mother become the artist she is today. The next generation deserves a City Hall that lifts up tomorrow's artists as well.
“…the President has leveraged his office to make himself a crypto billionaire and…has extended broad protection to fraudsters,
scam artists, and other online criminals—who, in turn, repay the President and his family with
millions of dollars in tribute.” democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
scam artists, and other online criminals—who, in turn, repay the President and his family with
millions of dollars in tribute.” democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
democrats-judiciary.house.gov
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
“…the President has leveraged his office to make himself a crypto billionaire and…has extended broad protection to fraudsters,
scam artists, and other online criminals—who, in turn, repay the President and his family with
millions of dollars in tribute.” democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
scam artists, and other online criminals—who, in turn, repay the President and his family with
millions of dollars in tribute.” democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Billionaire Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, pardoned by Donald Trump, has been accused of facilitating millions of dollars’ worth of payments to Hamas in the wake of its attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Zhao also financed the Trump family's entrance into the cryptocurrency market.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao accused of facilitating payments to Hamas
Crypto tycoon pardoned by Donald Trump faces US court complaint from families of victims of October 7 attack
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Billionaire Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, pardoned by Donald Trump, has been accused of facilitating millions of dollars’ worth of payments to Hamas in the wake of its attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Zhao also financed the Trump family's entrance into the cryptocurrency market.
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
Heard of Tether? It's based in El Salvador and makes cryptocurrency. One use of that crypto is to help Russia's war machine, I'm told. Tether is massively profitable. And among its biggest shareholders is a donor to Nigel Farage...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Cryptocurrency backed by Farage donor is used for Russian war effort, investigators say
Tether tokens found to facilitate scheme that enables sanctions evasion and launders money for the Kremlin
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Heard of Tether? It's based in El Salvador and makes cryptocurrency. One use of that crypto is to help Russia's war machine, I'm told. Tether is massively profitable. And among its biggest shareholders is a donor to Nigel Farage...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
“Bitcoin might not have lived up to its promise as a currency, but the underlying blockchain technology shows great promise.” (Someone, circa 2015)
If you're still referring to bitcoin as a currency or a store of value, please see me after class.
November 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM
“Bitcoin might not have lived up to its promise as a currency, but the underlying blockchain technology shows great promise.” (Someone, circa 2015)
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
If you're still referring to bitcoin as a currency or a store of value, please see me after class.
November 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
If you're still referring to bitcoin as a currency or a store of value, please see me after class.
Thanks @cnn-news.bsky.social and @jaketapper.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Thanks @cnn-news.bsky.social and @jaketapper.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben McKenzie
What’s the Mamdani/Trump positivity implies is that Trump might actually get along with Democrats if they actually had charisma and the courage of their convictions
November 21, 2025 at 10:02 PM
What’s the Mamdani/Trump positivity implies is that Trump might actually get along with Democrats if they actually had charisma and the courage of their convictions
Inject it into my veins
Fox News is confused by Trump's friendly meeting with Mamdani.
"You know, it was a surprise to see those two getting along as well as they did. A couple of times I asked the mayor-elect a tougher question, and the president almost helped him dodge it."
"You know, it was a surprise to see those two getting along as well as they did. A couple of times I asked the mayor-elect a tougher question, and the president almost helped him dodge it."
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Inject it into my veins
The fascist doesn’t mind being called a fascist. So legacy media, maybe you can call him a fasicst now??
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
The fascist doesn’t mind being called a fascist. So legacy media, maybe you can call him a fasicst now??