The events of the crypto world are moving to the big screen, as plans for a documentary on the founder of Binance and FTX were recently announced. The documentary will be produced by Fortune and Unrealistic Idea, Mark Wahlberg’s production company.
The short film will look specifically at the relationship between Sam Bankman Fried and Changpeng Zhao, two very similar personalities but who have acted very differently over time.
The creator of Binance and the creator of FTX, two very different realities of the crypto world
The documentary project seems very ambitious. The idea of describing and documenting two such different personalities makes the project almost a challenge that the two production companies set for themselves.
On one side we see the pragmatic Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance and current CEO.
CZ has led Binance to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange through a lot of technical work and many partnerships with major companies. Binance is now giant in the crypto world and it is also thanks to the personality of its CEO.
On the other end is Sam Bankman Fried and his cynical personality that led him to the failure of the company he founded, FTX. His strategy characterized by deals with politics and celebrities led him to grow his company exponentially, eventually leading to the crisis we know.
A very special bond that of Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman Fried, the two companies Binance and FTX, first partners in the industry and later rivals.
Binance’s intention to acquire FTX in its moment of crisis and then the withdrawal of the bid, triggering what has been one of the worst times for cryptocurrencies.
There was no shortage of accusations from Sam Bankman Fried toward the CEO of Binance. In fact, according to SBF, it was Changpeng Zhao himself who damaged FTX.
In the upcoming documentary, not only will the professional relationships of the two be analyzed, but the stories of the two will also be compared. It will introspectively go into the life stories of both of them, two very different stories.
The life of the founder of FTX and Alameda Research, the son of university academics, politically active and connected with many prominent personalities. All factors that gave rise to Sam Bankman Fried’s politically active strategy, only to lead him to engage in criminal wrongdoing with his own exchange.
Whereas Changpeng Zhao’s origins are much more modest, the CEO of the world’s largest exchange was forced, along with his family, to flee China to Canada when he was only twelve years old. He eventually found himself founding and then running arguably the most important entity in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Today while FTX is in free fall and its founder finds himself with his back against the wall, Binance is steadily rising, continuing to forge partnerships and expanding across the industry.
Two different personalities, two different life stories, but the same drive to revolutionize the digital industry.
The documentary by Fortune Unrealistic Ideas
One of the two companies that will be involved in the production of the documentary is Unrealistic Ideas. A fast-growing company based in Burbank, California. The company was created in 2018 by Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, and Mark Wahlberg, the famous Hollywood actor.
One of the three founders Archie Gips, recently stated:
“The story of SBF and CZ has captured the imagination of people all over the world. What I am most excited about is the phenomenal exclusive access we have to dynamic narrators who were literally part of the Shakespearean drama as it unfolded.”
Hence, it has been hinted that the documentary will be well-detailed, packed with exclusive news and statements. Although the events affecting FTX and Alameda Research, and with them Sam Bankman Fried, are continually in the news, the relationship between the two exchange companies has never been well clarified.
The documentary will give us not only an analysis of the personal relationship of the two prominent figures in the crypto world, but also a clearer idea of what happened.
Speaking at the microphones was also a member of the Fortune production company, Alyson Shontell, who said:
“We are incredibly excited to pair Fortune’s award-winning journalistic resources with the well-known storytelling skills of Unrealistic Ideas. The tumultuous relationship between SBF and CZ has manifested itself to some extent in articles and on Twitter, but this definitive documentary will give people a personal 360-degree look at the entire FTX saga.”
As Alyson Shontell made very clear, the relationship between the two founders, especially in the last period has been primarily via social media. The constant attacks, implicit and explicit between the two gave people a way to take sides.
Everyone had an idea about the disagreements between the CEO of Binance and Sam Bankman Fried, the documentary, however, will highlight events that probably no one knows perfectly.
As Fortune’s editor-in-chief stated, it will take a 360-degree look at the relationship of the two and what and how the relationship broke down.
Many other projects are emerging related to Sam Bankman Fried and his affairs with FTX, though the documentary at the moment seems to be the most concrete and interesting one. There has been no word yet on a start of work or a release date. But the idea seems really concrete.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2023/02/02/crypto-documentary-binance-ftx/