Film Screening: Everyone Is Lying to You for Money

Since the earliest days of the technology, cryptocurrency has been mired in controversy, as people debate its social value against its potential to enable criminal activity and operate in a regulatory gray area that opens opportunities for malfeasance. From its early role in online contraband sales to the implosion of FTX to the industry's ties to the current President of the United States, crypto has not escaped controversy or legal difficulties. 

Actor-turned-accidental-fraud-investigator Ben McKenzie spent two years inside the crypto industry asking a simple question: Where is the money actually coming from? The result was his 2023 book, Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, and his more recent documentary, Everyone Is Lying to You for Money.

McKenzie and his team have been showing the film through individual screenings rather than standard theatrical releases, and the Corporations and Society Initiative at the Stanford Graduate School of Business is pleased to present a screening on campus this fall.

This event is a departure from CASI’s typical format and will include a screening of the film followed by a short discussion.

Ben McKenzie is the only 6 time Teen Choice Award nominee to have written a NYT bestselling book on economics, as well as direct and produce a feature film on the subject. Easy Money and EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU FOR MONEY chronicle his investigation into the murky world of cryptocurrency and fraud. Ben has starred in three TV shows (Gotham, Southland, and The OC), appeared in numerous films (Junebug, Line of Duty, The Torture Report, and the upcoming Motor City), and performed on Broadway (the Tony-nominated Grand Horizons). He has written and directed multiple episodes of television. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three kids, all of whom are tired of him talking about crypto.

Student Lead: Dylan Ackerman, MBA ’26