Crypto: Netflix’s FTX Series Sparks Outrage from Former Executive

FTX arrives on Netflix, but not everyone appreciates the storyline. Constance Wang, former chief operating officer of the crypto exchange and then co-CEO in its final months, strongly criticizes the trailer for The Altruists. She believes the series turns a bankruptcy that destroyed billions of dollars into a love story between Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison. Netflix will air all eight episodes on November 19.

The Crypto FTX Scandal in Series

Netflix does not hide the chosen angle. The Altruists follows Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, two central figures in the collapse of the crypto platform FTX. The platform presents their story as two young idealists turned billionaires before the destruction of their empire.

The judicial reality is much less romantic. Sam Bankman-Fried’s 25-year prison sentence was definitively confirmed on appeal this summer. Anthony Boyle plays SBF. Julia Garner portrays Caroline Ellison, former leader of Alameda Research and former partner of Bankman-Fried.

Netflix specifically centers their relationship in the trailer. The company talks about a “toxic love story” inspired by a real fraud. Creator Graham Moore explains he wanted to show two characters initially convinced they could improve the world.

FTX however collapsed in November 2022 after a liquidity crisis revealed its financial ties with Alameda Research and abusive use of customer funds. The series covers this downfall. But its way of telling the story does not convince everyone.

A Former Executive Does Not Recognize the FTX She Knew

Constance Wang reacted publicly after the release of the trailer. She claims the company shown on screen hardly resembles the crypto platform FTX where she worked. Wang held the COO position since 2019 before becoming co-CEO during the exchange’s final months.

She recounts a team of fewer than 200 people, with employees sometimes working 16 to 18 hours a day. Not exactly the image of a group spending its time partying in the Bahamas. Wang, however, does not try to defend Bankman-Fried. She recalls having lost a lot of money herself during the collapse and says she was the last person to leave the Bahamas after SBF’s extradition.

She mainly criticizes the focus on the couple. According to her, the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison was so discreet that several employees only learned of its existence after the bankruptcy. Caroline Ellison later played a major role in the trial. She had testified against Bankman-Fried before serving a sentence related to the FTX crypto scandal.

Wang also contests the personality attributed to Ellison in the trailer. She describes her as calm and reserved, far from some more aggressive scenes shown by Netflix. For her, the problem is simple: a gigantic crypto fraud gradually becomes a romantic drama.

FTX Continues to Haunt the Crypto Industry Four Years Later

Netflix arrives at a time when the FTX case is still not completely closed. Sam Bankman-Fried remains in prison. Caroline Ellison has left federal detention for a form of community supervision after cooperating with prosecutors. Financial proceedings continue.

Former clients are gradually recovering their money. This summer, FTX was already approaching 11 billion dollars reimbursed to its creditors. The series thus brings back to the forefront an event that remains very real for thousands of former users.

Netflix nonetheless embraces a dramatic adaptation, not a documentary. The screenwriters indicate they used available information to build their characters while imagining moments that have never been filmed.

It is precisely here that the versions diverge. For Netflix, the relationship between SBF and Ellison allows telling the rise and fall of a multi-billion empire. For Constance Wang, this choice distorts the environment in which the exchange FTX actually operated and reduces a financial catastrophe to a romance. The public will decide starting November 19. Eight episodes later, the crypto story of FTX is likely still to make waves.