Netflix Orders Docuseries on the Bonnie and Clyde of Crypto

The information of one of many largest cash laundering schemes in historical past captivated the world on Tuesday, not a lot due to the crime—which concerned $4.5 billion in bitcoin and is, yeah, a giant deal—however moderately due to the couple accused of carrying it out. They are the weirdo Bonnie and Clyde of the crypto world, and Netflix needs you to know all about them and their alleged plot.

It took solely three days for the streaming large to fee a documentary collection on Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, who have been arrested this week for a purported conspiracy to launder 119,754 bitcoin linked to the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, one of many world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

Given how obsessed Hollywood appear to be with tales about failures, fraud, and bad behavior within the tech world currently, the story’s attraction was apparent. In addition, how typically do you meet a (unhealthy) rapper—Morgan, whose stage identify is “Razzlekhan”—who throws down about all the things from the coronavirus to AirPods?

“Netflix has ordered a documentary series about a married couple’s alleged scheme to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency in the biggest criminal financial crime case in history,” the corporate mentioned in a news announcement on Friday.

The docuseries will likely be directed by Chris Smith, who has expertise in actual tales about failure and fraud. He directed FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, a Netflix documentary in regards to the disastrous FYRE festival that scammed traders and left a whole bunch of attendees stranded on an island. In addition, Smith was the manager producer of the TV collection documentary Tiger King.

In its announcement, Netflix drummed up the drama round Lichtenstein and Morgan’s alleged wrongdoing.

“As the value of the stolen Bitcoin soared from $71 million at the time of the hack to nearly $5 billion, the couple allegedly tried to liquidate their digital money by creating fake identities and online accounts, and buying physical gold, NFTs, and more–all while investigators raced to track the money’s movement on the blockchain,” the corporate mentioned.

Netflix didn’t reveal a launch date for the documentary collection.