At SXSW, NFTs and blockchain are the future of the web — or an MLM scam. And leading the cryptocurrency naysayers is actor Ben McKenzie from “The O.C.”
Dolly Parton is getting ready for her first NFT drop and a web3 concert at SXSW, where dozens of crypto-focused panels cover topics like “Breaking the Blockchain Boys Club” and “How NFTs Are Changing the World.” Top-level sponsors include Fox’s Blockchain Creative Labs, which has its logo plastered all over Austin; it sits right next to that of the world’s 10th-largest company, Volkswagen.
The blockchain devoted have reimagined SXSW as a kind of IRL coming-out party, targeting the diverse group of attendees at one of the largest in-person U.S. events in the last two years. Everyone from tech CEOs to TikTok influencers have participated in panels and descended on lavish brand activations to hear the unified message that blockchain is the future.
Then there’s a smaller group: The naysayers who articulate a position similar to the leader of India’s central bank, which labeled crypto a Ponzi scheme. At SXSW, that movement’s leader is… actor Ben McKenzie, who took to the event’s largest stage Sunday afternoon in the latest stop in his crypto-takedown tour. It’s Ryan from “The O.C.” against a global project backed by Parton and the Murdochs.
“Numbers don’t go up forever, even in manipulated markets. These things do happen in bubbles, historically speaking,”…
