Key Notes
- Netflix released the official trailer for The Altruists, an eight-episode drama with all episodes arriving on November 19, 2026.
- Julia Garner plays Caroline Ellison opposite Anthony Boyle as Sam Bankman-Fried, with their relationship central to the story of FTX.
- The series dramatizes the crypto exchange’s collapse, while the documented fraud case led to Bankman-Fried’s 25-year prison sentence.
Netflix has released the official trailer for The Altruists, an eight-episode drama about Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison and the rise and collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. All eight episodes will arrive on November 19, 2026.
Anthony Boyle plays Bankman-Fried, while Julia Garner portrays Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research. Netflix’s October 8 announcement places their personal relationship at the center of the financial scandal.
A Trailer Built Around Going All In
The official trailer, published on Netflix’s verified YouTube channel, opens with a brain teaser about betting and risk. Its recurring refrain, “All in,” becomes a thread connecting the characters’ ambition with their increasingly reckless decisions.
The dialogue moves from plans to build a cryptocurrency business and use its earnings for good to arguments over responsible investment, secrecy and trust. Early confidence about making a million dollars a day gives way to warnings about losing everything and accusations that customers’ money has been stolen.
That progression establishes the drama’s central tension: the distance between the characters’ stated ideals and the conduct that destroyed their business. These are scenes from a scripted series, rather than newly released recordings of Bankman-Fried or Ellison.
Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle Lead the Cast
Netflix’s cast guide pairs Garner, known for Ozark and Inventing Anna, with Boyle, whose credits include Masters of the Air and Say Nothing.
The supporting cast includes Alex Lawther as Sam Trabucco, Karan Soni as Nishad Singh, Eugene Young as Gary Wang and Matt Rife as Ryan Salame. Madison Hu plays Constance Wang, while Naomi Okada portrays Claire Watanabe.
The series also brings Bankman-Fried’s and Ellison’s families and wider industry into the story. Paul Reiser plays Joe Bankman, Robin Weigert portrays Barbara Fried, Jennifer Grey appears as Sarah Fisher Ellison and Terry Chen plays Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Graham Moore and Jacqueline Hoyt are co-showrunners, writers and executive producers. James Ponsoldt directed the first episode. Higher Ground Productions and New York Magazine/Vox Media Studios are among the production partners, and Netflix says the series is inspired by New York Magazine reporting.
The Creators Focus on the Relationship Behind FTX
In Netflix’s trailer interview, Moore describes the story as a gradual escalation in which the characters justify increasingly serious wrongdoing. His account of their motivations is the show’s interpretation of the people involved, rather than a legal finding about why the fraud occurred.
Hoyt similarly frames the relationship as a force that encouraged both characters to push their ambitions further. The series aims to explore how the promise of changing finance became entangled with a business that left an $8 billion hole.
Preparing the performances required different approaches. Moore says Garner had only two recordings of Ellison to study, while Boyle had substantially more public material featuring Bankman-Fried. He encouraged both actors to develop rounded characters instead of limiting their performances to impressions.
The Criminal Case Behind the Drama
The underlying fraud is documented separately in the court record. On March 28, 2024, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison after his conviction on seven fraud and conspiracy counts.
The Justice Department said he misappropriated billions of dollars deposited by FTX customers, defrauded the exchange’s investors of more than $1.7 billion and defrauded Alameda’s lenders of more than $1.3 billion. Prosecutors put the amount stolen from customers above $8 billion.
Customer funds were diverted to investments, political contributions, real estate and repayments of Alameda’s loans. The department’s account also describes changes to FTX’s computer code that allowed Alameda to withdraw effectively unlimited amounts of cryptocurrency, despite public assurances that the trading firm received no special treatment.
Those findings explain why the story extends beyond an exchange failing during a market downturn. The criminal case concerned the misuse of customer deposits and false representations about how the businesses operated.
Ellison’s Role and the Story’s Wider Context
Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty in December 2022 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Ellison admitted seven charges, including wire fraud and conspiracies to commit fraud and money laundering, according to the Justice Department’s announcement.
The two lead characters therefore occupy different positions in the legal history, even as Netflix builds its drama around their shared relationship. The series’ private conversations and emotional scenes should be understood as a dramatization of that history.
CoinScreamer’s previous coverage examines Bankman-Fried’s legal challenges and his efforts to overturn the conviction. The show approaches the central figures in that case through their working relationship, ambitions and personal conflict.
The Altruists will be released as a complete limited series on Netflix, with all eight episodes available together on November 19.
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