As per Deadline, Netflix has announced the production of a FTX cryptocurrency scheme-based series titled The Altruists, which is set to cast Anthony Boyle (Say Nothing, Tetris) as the founder and CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. They have also chosen to cast Julia Garner (Ozark, Inventing Anna) as Bankman-Fried’s lead accomplice and romantic interest, Caroline Ellison.
Deadline has reported that the series will be a Gen Z-style romance. It will follow the two fraudsters through their on-and-off-again love story as they conspired to successfully swindle over $8 billion from FTX customers in what, according to Justice.gov, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York called “one of the largest financial frauds in history.”
The Independent details the cause of the title of the show being billed as The Altruists. Both Bankman-Fried and Ellison were children of academics as well as math geniuses themselves. They embraced an ideology called effective altruism, a philosophy many attribute to Peter Singer and his 1972 essay ‘Famine, Influence, and Morality.’ Effective altruism revolves around making as much money as possible to fund efforts to benefit society in the greatest way. Utilitarianism is also a huge influence on effective altruism, calling for the maximization of utility in order to do good for the largest number of people. Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried twisted his utilitarianism and effective altruism to justify the use of immorality to accomplish what he felt was the greater good.
Want to learn more about crypto? As the world’s leading crypto expert, @stephencurry30 has got you covered…or does he?
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— FTX (@FTX_Official) March 29, 2022
The Entrepreneur reports that in its heyday, FTX had spokespeople such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry and many others calling for Crypto investors to use FTX to buy, sell, and trade with ease on its app. They further report that Curry, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Kevin O’Leary, Shaquille O’Neal, and other celebrities were named in a class action lawsuit claiming that they participated in deceptive strategies to “induce confidence and to drive consumers to invest in what was ultimately a Ponzi scheme.”
Deadline reports that The Altruists will be directed by James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, Daisy Jones & The Six). There is no official release date as of yet. The show is slated to premiere late next year.
