Netflix is reviving the story of FTX's $8 billion collapse with The Altruists, a new eight-episode drama centered on the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison. FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after a surge of customer withdrawals exposed an $8 billion shortfall at the exchange. Bankman-Fried, the exchange's founder, has received a 25-year prison term for fraud and conspiracy. Ahead of the series' Nov. 19 release, lead actor Anthony Boyle has revealed that he contacted the imprisoned former FTX chief before being cast to portray him on screen. Its arrival has put the exchange's multibillion-dollar downfall — and the fraud case that followed — back in the headlines.

Anthony Boyle Contacted Sam Bankman-Fried in Prison Before Filming

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Boyle said he reached out to Bankman-Fried while researching the role and sent him more than 100 questions. Many of those questions received answers, the actor said, though he declined to reveal any of the responses because he had promised to keep the correspondence private.

Boyle added that his curiosity lay less in the technical mechanics of FTX's failure than in what propelled Bankman-Fried to his position. He said he wanted to understand what made somebody one of the youngest billionaires in the world, and how ambition, ideology and ego influenced his decisions.

Netflix Focuses on SBF and Caroline Ellison

The Altruists casts Boyle as Bankman-Fried, while Julia Garner plays Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research. According to Netflix, the two young idealists succeeded in changing the financial system before becoming caught up in an alleged $8 billion fraud. The series draws inspiration from New York magazine articles and is set to premiere on Nov. 19.

In contrast to coverage centered on FTX's financial scandal, the trailer frames the company as an empire and as a personal fascination shared between Bankman-Fried and Ellison.

FTX's Collapse Still Defines One of Crypto's Biggest Frauds

In March 2024, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven criminal charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, commodities fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

U.S. prosecutors said he embezzled billions of dollars of FTX customer assets, defrauded investors of more than $1.7 billion, and defrauded Alameda lenders of more than $1.3 billion. Ellison, who led Alameda, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and cooperated with prosecutors, later receiving a two-year prison sentence. Given that the exchange was previously regarded as one of the world's largest trading platforms, its collapse still stands as one of the most damaging episodes in crypto history. The case has since served as a reference point in U.S. policy debates over how crypto exchanges should safeguard customer funds, and FTX's bankruptcy estate has begun court-supervised distributions to repay creditors.

The Altruists Turns Crypto's Biggest Scandal Into Character Drama

Boyle said the series looks beyond the image of Bankman-Fried as a disgraced crypto entrepreneur, focusing instead on his insecurity, anxiety and belief in effective altruism. That philosophy, whose followers seek to earn money in order to donate it at scale, shaped Bankman-Fried's public image during his rise, when he pledged to give away much of his fortune. Boyle suggested that this approach gives Netflix the freedom to examine the collision between idealism, risk-taking and individual ambition inside FTX.

Boyle also emphasized that the story is not simply one about eccentric founders or tech culture. The real-world financial effects of the collapse were borne by customers and investors alike, and the drama is intricately entangled in one of crypto's most significant failures.