Crypto criticism, according to Keanu Reeves, “is only going to make it better.”

Keanu Reeves, who starred in “The Matrix,” has become into somewhat of a cryptocurrency enthusiast and calls them “wonderful tools for exchanges and distribution of resources.”

“I believe the idea of an independent currency is great”, Reeves said in a recent interview with Wired to promote his upcoming movie “John Wick 4“, 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 cyberpunk classic “The Matrix,” in which Keanu Reeves played the lead character Neo, was released in 1999. It foresaw many current emergent tech concepts, such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse. It is therefore not surprising that Reeves’ opinions on cryptocurrency and similar technologies like NFTs have long piqued the interest of Web3 fans.

As he notes, “People are growing up with these tools: We’re already listening to music that was generated by AI in the style of Nirvana, there’s NFT digital art.” Reeves is particularly interested in the ramifications of digital art technologies like AI and NFTs. He added that:

It’s cool, like, see what the cute machines can make. The corporatocracy behind it that’s attempting to control those things worries me.

In “The Matrix,” Neo is “fighting for what was real,” according to Reeves, who recalled trying to explain this to a youngster who said, “Who cares if it’s real?”

The actor predicted that

Culturally and socially, we’ll be confronted by the value of real, or the nonvalue. And what will thereafter be forced upon us? What shall be made known to us?

The Revolution of the Metaverse

The actor has been getting more and more involved in the NFT world recently. After calling NFT art “easily reproduced” in a promotional interview for “The Matrix Resurrections,” he has since joined the advisory board of the nonprofit organization The Futureverse Foundation, which supports artists trying to break into the NFT world.

According to Reeves’ partner and fellow Futurevese Foundation adviser Alexandra Grant, the charity, supported by NFT projects Non-Fungible Labs and Fluf World, seeks to “make the metaverse accessible to more individuals, especially from poor backgrounds.”

Reeves said that,

I’m kind of riding her coattails. I participated in launch setup. We are attempting to use popular technology to provide possibilities for artists with various opinions.

When asked if organizations like Meta have sufficiently widened access to the metaverse, Reeves responded, “It’s like they’ve added more territory. More acreage is offered for sale. Wealth can be created, and there are opportunities.

But he still has some reservations about the metaverse. He remarked:

This sensorium, that is. It’s a show. And it’s a system of manipulation and control. We can’t see behind us since we are on our knees, peering at the cave walls and the projections. or off to one side.

He quipped, “Can we just not have Facebook invent the metaverse,” in a prior interview. “The idea of the metaverse predates that.”

Reeves’ history with crypto

Reeves has maintained a certain level of distance from the cryptocurrency community. He once claimed to have “a little HODL” that “a friend of mine bought some for me long back,” but that he hasn’t done anything with it since “I haven’t had to.”

However, he has occasionally come into contact with cryptocurrencies.

In 2015, Reeves served as the voiceover talent for the Alex Winter-directed documentary “Deep Web,” which told the tale of Ross Ulbricht, the man behind the Silk Road dark web bazaar.

Over 170,000 Bitcoin, worth more than $3.7 billion at today’s prices, were taken by the authorities when the Silk Road was shut down.

In 2015, Ulbricht was found guilty of conspiring to launder money, hacking computers, trafficking in narcotics, and operating a criminal business. He was given two life sentences plus 40 years.

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