The star of “The Matrix” said that dismissing crypto because of how volatile it is would make it safer “in terms of how it’s safeguarded.”
“I think the principle, the ideas behind an independent currency, are amazing,” In a recent interview with Wired to promote his new film “John Wick 4,” Reeves said, adding that, “To pooh-pooh crypto, or the volatility of cryptocurrency, it’s only going to make it better in terms of how it’s safeguarded.”
The 1999 film “The Matrix,” starring Keanu Reeves as the hero Neo, was a foundational cyberpunk text that predicted many of today’s rising technological developments, from artificial intelligence to the metaverse. So it should come as no surprise that Web3 supporters have long wondered what Reeves thinks about crypto and similar technologies such as NFTs.
Reeves is particularly interested in what AI and NFTs mean for digital art. He says, “People are growing up with these tools: We’re listening to music already that’s made by AI in the style of Nirvana, there’s NFT digital art.”
While conceding that “it’s cool, like, look what the cute machines can make!” Reeves added that he’s concerned about the “corporatocracy behind it that’s looking to control those things.”
Reeves said that he recently tried to explain to a teenager that Neo is “fighting for what was real” in “The Matrix,” but the teenager asked, “Who cares if it’s real?”
“Culturally, socially, we’re gonna be confronted by the value of real, or the nonvalue,” the actor said. “And then what’s going to be pushed on us? What’s going to be presented to us?”
Revolutions in the metaverse
In recent years, the actor has become more engaged in the NFT space. After saying that NFT art is “easily reproduced” in an interview to promote “The Matrix Resurrections,” he is now an adviser for The Futureverse Foundation, which funds artists looking to enter the NFT space.
The charity, which is backed by NFT projects Non-Fungible Labs and Fluf World, wants to “make the metaverse accessible to more people, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds,” according to Reeves’ partner and fellow Futurevese Foundation adviser, Alexandra Grant.
“I’m kind of riding her coattails,” Reeves told Wired. “I helped set up the launch. We’re trying to take this technology that people are interested in and give opportunities to artists with different viewpoints.”
When asked if companies like Meta have done enough to make the metaverse accessible, Reeves said, “It’s like they’ve created more land. There’s more land for sale. It’s wealth creation and it’s opportunity.”
But he is still not completely sure about the metaverse. “It’s this sensorium. It’s spectacle,” he said. “And it’s a system of control and manipulation. We’re on our knees looking at cave walls and seeing the projections, and we’re not having the chance to look behind us. Or to the side.”
In a previous interview, he joked, “Can we just not have metaverse be invented by Facebook? The concept of metaverse is way older than that.”
About Reeves’ crypto history
Reeves has “a little HODL” after “a friend of mine bought some for me awhile back” but hasn’t done anything with it since “I haven’t had to.” He occasionally encounters cryptocurrency.
In 2015, Reeves narrated the documentary “Deep Web”–directed by his “Bill & Ted” co-star Alex Winter–which described the story of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web marketplace.
When the Silk Road was shut down, the authorities seized approximately 170,000 Bitcoin, which at current prices are worth around $3.7 billion.
Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in 2015 for money laundering conspiracy, computer hacking, narcotics trafficking, and running a criminal business.
Content Source: decrypt.com
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