The realms of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can be confusing mazes for those of us who are comfortable with paper money. "Dead Man's Switch," a sometimes absorbing documentary, shows that there is nothing new under the sun in terms of theft, whether the money is material or virtual.
Its director, Sheona McDonald, is confident enough in the story and exposes many of the juicy parts as the opening credits roll on. A cheeky and beloved young bitcoin entrepreneur dies suddenly in India, he tells us early, after which the money that dozens of ambitious investors invested in his company disappears. When the movie ends, we are told that there is still no more than $ 200 million in the book.
The businessman was a fresh-faced Canadian named Gerald W. Cotten, and his trajectory, from the Canadian cryptocurrency flute player to a future outcast who stays one step ahead of accusations of his wrongdoings, is almost whiplash-inducing. McDonald recruits a small army of investigative journalists to piece together Cotten's rise and fall. And, for the sake of commotion, it features a pair of new money wannabes who ended up losing their life savings to Cotten's company, Quadriga CX.
There is something of comic value here. The film details how the transparency supposedly inherent in the cryptocurrency actually allowed Cotten to execute what appears to have been a blatant Ponzi scheme. So a seemingly better way of banking turns out, perhaps, to be a better trap for those who are willing to take the bait.
And yet. The orphanage he and his new wife traveled to India to open turns out to be real! And despite the discovery, by some intrepid journalists, of the peculiar comings and goings of his corpse, his death also appears to have actually occurred. As the film closes, on-screen text indicates that neither the FBI nor the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would comment on this film due to ongoing investigations. So stay tuned for a sequel, maybe.
Dead man's switch: a cryptographic mystery
Not qualified. Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes. Check it out on Discovery +.
