Netflix will begin streaming The Altruists on November 19, an eight-episode miniseries dramatizing the rise and fall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The streaming service has released a trailer featuring Anthony Boyle as Sam Bankman-Fried and Julia Garner as Caroline Ellison. The trailer shows how the two met and how Ellison's "all in" mentality supposedly shaped the way they ran their business.
Bankman-Fried founded FTX, which offered crypto exchange and crypto hedge fund services, with Gary Wang. FTX originally formed inside Alameda Research, a trading firm co-founded by Bankman-Fried and Ellison, who later became romantically involved. The two reportedly bonded over "effective altruism," the belief that high-income jobs are worth taking if the goal is to give the income to charity.
At its peak, FTX was one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with a daily trading volume of $10 billion. Its rapid collapse in 2022 came after the price of its native token nosedived and many users withdrew their money, fearing a liquidity crisis. That led to the revelation that $8 billion of customers' money had gone missing. In court, Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried directed her to use FTX customer funds to buy property, make political donations and fund Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in late 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He recently tried to appeal his fraud conviction, but an appeals court denied the appeal.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing