Netflix is really in fraud mode right now.
The likes of Inventing Anna, The Tinder Swindler and Bad Vegan have put a microscope on various schemers in recent weeks, but the streamer's latest documentary tells his most shocking story of possible hoax yet.
We say "potential hoax" because the criminality of its subject, Gerald Cotten, remains unproven to this day. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King tracks the rise and fall of Cotten's cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, which collapsed, with €190 million in client holdings, following the unexplained death of its founder in 2018.
Was Cotten murdered? Did you fake his own death and steal the money? Does his wife have anything to do with the case? These are all questions that Netflix's latest true crime feature tries to answer (and ultimately fails), which is what makes its 90-minute runtime so enthralling.
Take a look at the trailer for Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King below:
That feature film also means the new Netflix documentary qualifies for a spot on the streamer's weekly list of the best movies. In its first week of release, Trust No One garnered over 12 million hours of viewing, making it the streaming service's third-highest-grossing movie in the past seven days.
These numbers can't compete with the other Netflix documentaries The Tinder Swindler and Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. fugitives. - the former got 45,8 million views in its first week of release, while the latter got 26,96 million - but nonetheless, they are a sign that audiences are still interested in the real life stories that they count each other and turn out to be stranger than fiction. .
Danger in passwords
Also, everyone says the same thing about Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King. Cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange remains murky: the selling point and simultaneous pitfall of the technology is its independence from any central authority.
In Netflix's latest ill-fated story, cryptocurrency mogul Gerald Cotten takes the passwords to his empire to his grave, leaving €190 million locked up in the digital aether (in a desperate attempt to recoup his losses, an investor loses the life savings).
Therefore, the public reacted with greater skepticism towards cryptocurrencies as an investment method: "'neither your keys, nor your coins' is the old adage spread on social networks after the release of the documentary. .
Y'all need to see this, I watched it last night and was blown away 🚨 Trust No One: The Hunt for the King of Crypto on #Netflix Don't forget your keys, not your coins 🔑 pic.twitter.com/TcqYJF4Yak Apr 2, 2022
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"I watched Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King on Netflix and it just struck me that these exchanges can disappear with our money and nothing will happen," one Twitter user wrote (opens in a new pestaña).
“Not trusting anyone at Netflix is the reason I don't invest in crypto or the stock market in general,” said another (opens in a new tab).
Clearly, then, the streamer's latest true-crime feature is another cautionary tale, this time, not against dating sites or unscrupulous restaurant owners, but against the digital stock market as a dangerous gamble.