This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.Hudson Williams Is Joining the Cast of Netflix's Scammer Drama 'The Altruists'

Rachel KingTue, March 17, 2026 at 7:42 PM UTC

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Netflix is producing a new series about the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison and their multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency platform.

As a refresher, Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was convicted of fraud after billions in customer funds were misused to cover losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda and Bankman-Fried’s on-and-off girlfriend, cooperated with prosecutors after admitting to helping carry out the scheme. FTX collapsed in late 2022, triggering massive losses across the crypto industry.

At trial, Ellison and other insiders testified that Bankman-Fried knowingly misled investors and regulators. He was found guilty on seven counts in 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ellison, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and five conspiracy counts as part of a cooperation agreement.

Here’s what we know about the series, titled The Altruists, so far.

Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams is joining the cast.

Hudson Williams at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles.Jamie McCarthy - Getty Images

Hudson Williams’s dance card just keeps getting fuller. The Heated Rivalry and Industry star is joining the cast of The Altruists, Deadline reported on Tuesday. Williams will play Duncan Rheingans‑Yoo, one of the co-founders of Modulo Capital, a cryptocurrency trading firm that operated out of the same compound in the Bahamas where Bankman-Fried once lived.

Netflix also announced five more additions this month: Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey will play Sara Fisher Ellison, Caroline Ellison’s mother and an MIT professor. Also joining the cast are Terry Chen (Almost Famous) as CZ, Elizabeth Adams (Wayward) as Hannah, Hannah Galway (The Institute) as Lucy, and William Mapother (Lost) as Dr. Lerner. It’s unclear if these four characters are based on real people or not.

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Other cast members include Robin Weigert, Paul Reiser, Maddie Hasson, Marianna Phung, Eugene Young, Madison Hu, Karan Soni, Matt Rife, Alex Lawther, and newcomer Naomi Okada.

Anthony Boyle and Julia Garner play Bankman-Fried and Ellison.

Sam Bankman-Fried leaves court in New York on June 15, 2023.Bloomberg

Say Nothing and House of Guinness star Anthony Boyle will step into the role of Bankman-Fried, the mastermind behind the crypto exchange. Julia Garner, who is no stranger to playing an elusive scammer (see: Inventing Anna), will portray Ellison. Bankman-Fried and Ellison’s relationship has always been murky, with the lines between personal and business seeming to have blurred frequently (not unlike another pair of well-known Silicon Valley scammers now behind bars).

Caroline Ellison exits court in New York on October 11, 2023.Bloomberg

As Netflix describes it, the series will depict “two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye—and then seduced, coaxed, and teased each other into stealing $8 billion.”

The Altruists comes from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

The former president and first lady aren’t named in the Netflix press release, but the show is from their production company, which has an ongoing deal with the studio.

The show will only run one season.

Netflix said this is an eight-episode limited series. Given that the main characters are in prison right now, it’s expected the plot will only cover the duration of FTX’s existence. That said, Ellison, at least, is expected to be out in less than two years by now—maybe less on good behavior.

We'll update this as we learn more about The Altruists.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”