The Crypto Con Artist Playbook: Even the Fraudsters Believed Their Own Hype
A Bloomberg doc reveals the scariest thing about crypto fraud isn't the lying — it's that the liars think they're telling the truth
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Ben McKenzie — yes, Ryan from The O.C. — has an economics degree and apparently a death wish, because he spent years investigating crypto fraud for a new Bloomberg documentary. His conclusion? The most dangerous fraudsters aren't the ones cackling over stolen funds. They're the true believers.
McKenzie interviewed both Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX) and Alex Mashinsky (Celsius) before their arrests — and both men radiated what he describes as genuine conviction in their own legitimacy. That's not a bug in the crypto fraud machine, it's a feature. When the person selling you magic beans has already bought a bag themselves, due diligence goes out the window. The social sentiment around $ETH and broader $BTC narratives on Reddit and X still shows this same messianic energy baked into every bull-run thread.
The most unsettling part of the whole exercise? The pattern keeps repeating because the market keeps rewarding confidence over competence — right up until the handcuffs click.