The actor-director discussed his least favorite currency and read a series of mean tweets—about us!—at our inaugural WIRED@Night event.

PHOTOGRAPH: Lanna Apisukh

Ben McKenzie had a question: “When did WIRED die?” Specifically, the actor-director wanted to know when did WIRED “‘DIE,’ all caps.”

McKenzie wasn’t asking for himself; he was engaging in the time-honored celebrity tradition of reading mean tweets . Although, in this case, the object wasn’t himself so much as the publication hosting the event. McKenzie, who famously played Ryan on The O.C. before becoming a leading voice of crypto skepticism, was sharing the stage with WIRED senior correspondent Andy Greenberg for the first of what will hopefully be a series of smaller events that we are calling WIRED@Night.

On April 16, about 100 people gathered at event partner Ace Hotel Brooklyn to sip drinks from Aplos , Faccia Brutto , The Sorting Table , and Manojo and ponder the future of cryptocurrency.

McKenzie, coauthor of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency,…