How does a belief that "making big money is for giving it away" spiral into a massive fraud case? That's the angle Netflix's new series "The Altruists" is taking. The trailer has just dropped, and the eight-episode story will reconstruct the rise and fall of crypto exchange FTX, streaming on Netflix starting November 19.
Anthony Boyle plays FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, while Julia Garner takes on the role of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. The trailer shows how the two met and hints at Ellison's "all in" approach to things—a mindset reportedly said to have shaped how the company actually operated.
FTX originally grew out of Alameda Research, the trading firm Bankman-Fried and Ellison co-founded together, and the two later became romantically involved. Reports suggest they bonded over "effective altruism"—the idea that taking a high-paying job is worthwhile as long as you eventually give the earnings to charity. Bankman-Fried later went on to launch FTX alongside Gary Wang, offering crypto trading and hedge fund services.
At its peak, FTX was one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, with daily trading volume once hitting $10 billion—before it collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2022. The platform's token price crashed, triggering a wave of withdrawals as users panicked over a looming liquidity crisis, and it was eventually revealed that customer funds were short by as much as $8 billion. During court proceedings, Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried had directed her to use FTX customer funds for property purchases, political donations, and to prop up Alameda Research's operations.
In late 2023, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He recently filed an appeal, but it was rejected by the appeals court.
