Netflix releases first trailer for The Altruists, its Sam Bankman-Fried series
The eight-episode limited series stars Anthony Boyle and Julia Garner as Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, and premieres November 19
Netflix has released the first trailer for The Altruists, its dramatized take on the rise and fall of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The trailer arrived on October 8, 2026. The project is an eight-episode limited series, not a feature film, and it lands on the platform on November 19, 2026.
The timing matters for anyone who lived through the FTX collapse. Nearly four years after the exchange imploded, the story is moving from courtrooms and bankruptcy filings into living rooms.
Who’s who in Netflix’s FTX drama
Anthony Boyle plays Bankman-Fried. Julia Garner plays Caroline Ellison, his former partner, who sits at the center of the story alongside him.
The series comes from Higher Ground Productions, the company run by Barack and Michelle Obama, which is executive producing. Graham Moore created the show, and Jacqueline Hoyt serves as co-showrunner.
The supporting cast fills out the rest of the FTX orbit. The lineup includes:
- Alex Lawther as Sam Trabucco
- Karan Soni as Nishad Singh
- Eugene Young as Gary Wang
- Matt Rife as Ryan Salame
Other actors round out the ensemble as FTX executives and members of the founders’ families.
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Netflix frames the series as a cautionary tale about two brilliant but flawed people who set out to remake the financial system. The logline describes the pair as accused of stealing $8 billion, while government allegations cited in coverage of the series run upwards of $10 billion.
The real story behind The Altruists
The show is set against the November 2022 collapse of FTX. The exchange unraveled after it emerged that it was sitting on massive shortfalls in customer funds.
The series blends the FTX and Alameda events with the personal relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison. It also draws on reporting from New York Magazine.
Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence. Ellison has served over a year in prison in connection with her role in the collapse.
What this means for crypto’s public image
For the crypto industry, the premiere is a mixed blessing at best. FTX remains the reference point many outsiders reach for when they think about digital assets going wrong.
A polished, star-studded series backed by the Obamas’ production company will likely reach audiences who never opened a crypto app.
The FTX collapse became a case study in why custody of customer funds, transparency and oversight matter, and a mainstream retelling could reinforce those lessons for newer participants.
With names like Gary Wang, Nishad Singh and Ryan Salame portrayed on screen, the dramatization will put a wider cast of FTX insiders in front of viewers, many of whom will be meeting these characters for the first time.