Jack Paul 
Hollywood’s Slow Embrace of Crypto Storytelling
It’s interesting to think about how long it took for a major studio like Netflix to finally greenlight a proper crypto-themed film. “One Attempt Remaining” is apparently a romantic comedy that actually uses crypto wallets and seed phrases as part of the plot, which feels like a step forward from what we’ve seen before.
For years, cryptocurrency in movies has mostly been background noise—something criminals use in direct-to-video thrillers or a quick way to signal “futuristic” without much explanation. Cutter Hoderine, who directed the indie film “Cold Wallet,” mentioned something that stuck with me: crypto still feels more fringe in films than it does in reality. That’s probably true for a lot of people watching these movies.
Leo Matchett from Decentralized Pictures made a good point about how new technologies take time to filter into mainstream storytelling. He compared it to the internet in the 90s—films didn’t really start featuring hackers and online activity until the internet became a normal part of daily life. Crypto seems to be on a similar path, but maybe a bit slower.
The Criminal Association Problem
One thing that’s hard to ignore is how often crypto gets linked to crime in movies. Look at films like “Crypto” from 2019 or “Money Plane”—digital currency is basically shorthand for money laundering. Even in big-budget action films, crypto bros often play the role of obnoxious antagonists, sort of like the yuppies in 80s movies.
Viviane Ford, who created the web series “Crypto Castle,” had some blunt thoughts about this. She spent four years living with crypto enthusiasts in San Francisco and turned that experience into her show. She pointed out that the crypto community “memeified themselves” in a way that made them easy targets for negative portrayals. When you have people wrapping Lamborghinis in Doge memes or celebrating Pepe the Frog pumps, it creates a certain image.
There’s also the financial reality—crypto has lost a lot of people a lot of money through collapses like FTX and Terra. Ford called it gambling with a “sexier” framing, which isn’t exactly the kind of association that leads to heroic movie portrayals.
Technical Challenges and Market Timing
Explaining crypto concepts in films presents real challenges. Matchett mentioned that in “Cold Wallet,” they tried to keep things as simple as possible. Crypto was basically just the payment method, a “device of value” that could have been gold bars or cash in another film. They stuck to familiar genre conventions—it’s a heist thriller at its core.
What surprised me was learning about the lack of crypto product placement in films. You’d think crypto companies would be eager to get their wallets or exchanges featured, but apparently the timing doesn’t work well. Film development takes years, and crypto markets move in cycles. A company that’s thriving during a bull market might not exist by the time a film finishes production.
Shifting Perspectives
There are signs that things might be changing, though. Ford’s “Crypto Castle” tries to present a more nuanced view—she wanted all her crypto bro characters to be likable, which she admits was challenging. She remembers when blockchain technology was about decentralized power and cross-border payments, before the meme culture took over.
Matchett thinks we’re still waiting for that breakthrough film that really shows crypto’s potential in a compelling way. He believes someone will eventually find a simple way to explain it quickly in a film and wrap it around a narrative about centralized versus decentralized systems.
I think he’s probably right about crypto becoming more common in films as it becomes more integrated into the global economy. Maybe in a few years, we’ll see crypto heist films that feel as natural as bank robbery movies do today. For now, Netflix’s romantic comedy feels like a small step toward more mainstream crypto storytelling—though whether it breaks the criminal association pattern remains to be seen.