In the cult-like world of crypto, there’s nothing worse than a nocoiner.
“Nocoiner” – also spelled “no-coiner” – is a derogatory term that encompasses everyone from those who don’t invest in cryptocurrency, family members who are too stupid to see its benefits and people who missed the boat with it years ago and are now bitter.
But just as quickly as the term became an inside joke for crypto bros, nocoiners are beginning to wear the label as a badge of honour. The title is now being repurposed to include the growing number of people who believe the crypto bubble is about to burst.
At the forefront of this scene is Ben McKenzie, AKA tank top-wearing hottie Ryan Atwood off The OC. McKenzie has become a vocal critic of cryptocurrency and NFTs over the past few years, has written several articles on the subject, and is now working with New Republic journalist Jacob Silverman on a book titled Easy Money – a kind of “Big Short for crypto”, as he told The Cut.
In an article for Slate, where McKenzie condemned fellow celebrities for shilling coins to fans, he argues that “crypto is a wildly anarchic, unregulated form of Wild West financial capitalism that is fueled by rampant speculation, sketchy stablecoins, and the murky dealings of a few big whales and insiders whose influence over these markets may be greater than most traders realise.”
Like McKenzie, Kerry Balenthiran, a risk manager from Reading, is also a nocoiner. The 48-year-old has never…
