Hollywood actor Ben McKenzie has launched lobbying efforts against the Clarity Act, a key crypto market structure bill under discussion in the U.S. Congress, blockchain outlet U.Today reported on July 15. He recently met U.S. senators in Washington and urged them to vote against the bill.

The Clarity Act sets out to more clearly overhaul the regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States. Supporters of the bill believe it can provide the regulatory clarity the crypto industry has long sought. McKenzie, meanwhile, opposes the legislation on consumer protection grounds.

McKenzie is known for playing Ryan Atwood in the 2000s drama series "The O.C." In recent years, he has been active as a prominent crypto critic in Hollywood. Around 2020, he began to question celebrity crypto promotions and a rapid inflow of funds into the market, and later produced the documentary "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money" based on related research.

The documentary covers the crypto market through interviews with industry critics, individual investors who suffered losses, and former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried (샘 뱅크먼-프리드). While promoting the film earlier this year, McKenzie argued that "investors should be more wary of the people behind it than the software."

He referred to his experience interviewing Bankman-Fried before FTX collapsed and said Bankman-Fried told an employee to change a single line of code to make it possible to borrow customer assets. He argued it would be hard to think of a more vivid example showing the flaw in believing that only the code can be trusted.

McKenzie has also taken a critical stance on bitcoin. He has drawn a line by saying he does not believe digital assets should be banned outright, and has stressed that the core issue is consumer protection.

His documentary also devotes significant attention to victims of failed crypto companies such as Celsius. McKenzie viewed the industry's speculative marketing as targeting young men in particular. He criticised it, saying, "As ads poured onto young people, it created pressure that you not only had to do this, but that if you did not, what would you become, pushing you to buy crypto." The remarks were aimed at a Crypto.com advertisement featuring Matt Damon.

His actions have also drawn backlash from the crypto industry. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty criticised the documentary in April, saying the way it portrayed digital assets was a "tired narrative". He pushed back by saying it was overly broad in generalising an entire industry, and that tens of millions of Americans already use the tool in practical ways to diversify income sources, run businesses and access new financial opportunities.

The lobbying came as the Clarity Act entered a critical phase in Congress. U.S. politics continues to debate whether to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto industry or prioritise consumer protection measures. As a result, the direction of the bill and the clash between the industry and critics are expected to continue during future congressional deliberations.