Easy Money

Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud

By: Ben McKenzie, Jacob Silverman - contributor

Narrated by: Ben McKenzie

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From a famous actor and an experienced journalist, a wildly entertaining debunking of cryptocurrency, one of the greatest frauds in history and on course for a spectacular crash.

At the height of the pandemic, TV star Ben McKenzie (The O.C., Gotham) was the perfect mark for cryptocurrency: a dad stuck at home with some cash in his pocket, worried about his family, armed with only the vague notion that people were making heaps of money on something he—despite a degree in economics—didn’t entirely understand. Lured in by the promise of taking power from banks, possibly improving democracy, and sure, a touch of FOMO, McKenzie dove deep into blockchain, Bitcoin, and the various other coins and exchanges on which they are traded. But after scratching the surface, he had to ask, “Am I crazy, or is this all a total scam?”

In Easy Money, McKenzie enlists the help of journalist Jacob Silverman for a caper and exposé that points in shock to the climactic final days of cryptocurrency now upon us. Weaving together stories of average traders and victims, colorful crypto “visionaries,” Hollywood’s biggest true believers, anti-crypto whistleblowers, and government agents searching for solutions at the precipice of a major crash, Easy Money is an on-the-ground look at a perfect storm of 2008 Housing Bubble-level irresponsibility and criminal fraud potentially ten times more devastating than Bernie Madoff.

©2023 Ben McKenzie,Jacob Silverman (P)2023 Spotify Audiobooks

Informative and entertaining dive into crypto land

Well researched, educational and entertaining.
As an individual who has been told "you just don't get it" when criticizing crypto, it is great to have a concise examination of the "market."

I get it, and I got it all along. Thank you for your work!

Excellent book, very revelatory!

I really liked the entire story, the way the information is laid out, and the narration. Very revealing and insightful book. Highly recommended!

Very informative

Loved it! It was great to understand some of the machinations behind the harebrained crypto movement.

Loved it

I too was fooled by the crypto hype and lost considerably for my income bracket. Highly recommend the listen if nothing else but to catch up on the very thorough dive into the FTX and SBF scam.

Thanks Ben & Jacob!

Makes a dry subject very entertaining

Really enjoyed even though I was somewhat familiar with the subject matter. Def recommend it!

This was the very best book about the industry I have ever read/listened to

Loved it start to finish. Well researched and presented, funny and extremely engaging. This is my third book on crypto and is BY FAR the best. Do more, Ben and Jake!

Timely read

Book is great for understanding the esoteric crypto industry, which everyone is/was to get into by any means necessary.

The Ryan Meets Ben complex

Ive always loved the characters that Ben McKenzie would play on TV, with my favorite being Ryan Atwood from The OC. I remember circling around the TV with my high school friends every Wednesday night to see who Ryan was going to punch next. I loved that show, and most of the characters. Ah cheers to youth and the good times. Now it’s grown up time and I Found myself coming across another character Ben would be playing. He would be playing the character of a Hollywood Regular that found some new passion in the world of crypto. But with a little plot twist, this is in fact real life and Ben is playing Himself. A 44 Year old out of Austin Texas who decided to go to war with All of Crypto. Why? Maybe he was bored, or maybe he’s actually on to something.
Fortune magazine wrote an article with the headline “Ben McKenzie needs a hug: the ‘OC’ star’s crypto book is an ill informed flop.” Yikes.
Well some might be surprised but Im here to tell you that I don’t agree with that. Not even a little.
Ben and Myself had gone back and forth a couple times on Twitter (Now X) about crypto currency. Mostly about Dogecoin. I engaged with Ben on one of his posts where he stated “Apparently the Laser eyed people are really mad at me..” where I replied “Im now convinced you have a nice bag of Crypto laying around.” I didn’t think much of the reply and I had always tried to engage with Bens profile. I was surprised when he tweeted me back saying “Nah Homey. I stack dollars, not the fake stuff 😘” Kissing Emoji? Kissing Emoji! Did Ryan Atwood really just send me a Kissing Emoji? Is Ben McKenzie my homey now?! To be fair I was a little excited. I ran to my wife and said “ babe! babe, Ryan tweeted me back! I think we are homies now! Lol
Well this simple tweet got over 200K Views with some serious community backlash about him “Stacking Dollars” “Not the Fake Stuff” (Hmm I want this on a Shirt)
We finished off the eventful Thread with him telling me “My Munoz, Keep stacking them Satoshis!” Did he say “My Munoz” lol. Im totally Geeking out now. And mind you Im not gay. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that”) ok back to it. I replied “Let me send you some #Dogecoin” with a quick reply of “Yes Please! Can Elon send me 25 Quadrillion” Hmmm Thats a lot of Doge. And just like that he sailed into the sunset.
Ordered his book as soon as it hit Audible and finished it in under a week. A few things I would like to highlight and my overall analysis. This is my overall Message here.. I think this book is a very necessary read for all Web3 Community Members and those that are thinking of dabbling in the markets. Ben does a great job of highlighting some major key points and history of Blockchain technology. The Alpha given in the book is concise and given in a way that most can understand. Now the problem I have with the book is it’s totally one sided. The Bias of Bens feeling towards crypto rips through every single word he iterates. He highlights the worst of the worst of the industry and forgoes any opportunity to give any views from the other side. I highly Recommend this book and although I do not agree with the overall message completely, I do agree with a-lot of the facts given when shined with a different light. It’s important to consume research that is both For and Against anything you might be interested in. This Book does that. To all Web3 Community Members, Remember always DYOR. Ryan and myself agree on this point “The Crypto Leaders, Influencers do not give a shit about you. There are scammers everywhere you turn.”

Brilliant

Very well done, Ryan & Jacob!! I can’t wait to see what y’all work on next.

Exceptional

I've listened to several audiobooks on the crypto crisis, many of them very good. Easy Money is easily the best audiobook on the subject. A good story, well told by the author. Way more entertaining than was expected from this subject matter. Well done.