The hit movie Barbie has become the summer’s pop culture conversation, so it was probably only a matter of time till the crypto world got drawn in, too. That happened during a recent Fandango interview when the host asked the film’s star, Australian actress Margot Robbie, how to “spot a Ken.”
Robbie responded by recounting a conversation she’d had with the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, during taping when two of the film’s producers—including her husband—would chat about crypto.
“When David and Tom would start talking about Bitcoin or something, Greta and I would be like, ‘You’re being such Kens!’” said Robbie, adding she felt the same when the pair chatted about golf.
Ken, of course, is Barbie’s longtime boyfriend who historically has offered little depth or personality, and serves primarily as male eye candy. (The new movie also points to Ken as a symbol of the patriarchy, but a cryptocurrency column is probably not an ideal forum for that particular debate.)
It wasn’t long before Robbie’s comments caught the attention of the crypto crowd. While it’s hard to see her remarks as particularly flattering, the reaction was primarily positive. This included the managing director of investment firm Swan Bitcoin, who tweeted a short excerpt from the pink-hued interview that loops Robbie saying “Bitcoin or something” three times.
Meanwhile, as CoinTelegraph notes, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor—whose cybersecurity firm is now one of the world’s largest Bitcoin holders—and others hailed Robbie’s subsequent comment: “There also can be big Ken energy, and that’s a good thing!”
Robbie never clarifies whether that “big Ken energy” includes men who buy Bitcoin, but many of the cryptocurrency’s social media acolytes were happy to conclude that it does. In the bigger picture, though, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that an actor of Robbie’s stature is talking about Bitcoin at all, and that her Hollywood producer husband appears to be dabbling in it. This is free exposure for crypto that would have been unimaginable a decade ago, and so Bitcoin boosters are understandably pleased to get a tiny piece of this summer’s big pop culture moment.
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
DECENTRALIZED NEWS
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In a strange bedfellows moment, the banking industry threw its support behind progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is pushing legislation to impose a rash of new KYC and AML rules on crypto firms. (Bloomberg)
An SEC official warned accounting firms they could be held liable if crypto firms tout any partial reviews they conduct as “audits.” (The Block)
Famed VC firm Sequoia, which lost over $200 million on FTX, announced it cut its crypto fund down to $200 million from $585 million amid a broader downsizing of the firm. (WSJ)
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