The realms of bitcoin and cryptocurrency can be confusing labyrinths for those of us familiar with paper money. “Dead Man’s Switch,” a sometimes captivating documentary, shows that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to stealing, be it physical or virtual money.
The director, Sheona McDonald, is confident enough in the story and lays out many of the juicy bits as the opening credits roll. A brash, beloved young bitcoin entrepreneur suddenly dies in India, she tells us early, after which the money sunk into his venture by dozens of ambitious investors disappears. When the movie ends, we’re told there’s still over $200 million missing.
The entrepreneur was a fresh-faced Canadian named Gerald W. Cotten, and his trajectory — from cryptocurrency Canadian Pied Piper to a future pariah who stays one step ahead of accusations of his misdeeds — is almost whiplash-inducing. McDonald deploys a small army of investigative reporters to trace Cotten’s rise and fall. And, for the sake of poignancy, she shows some new-money-in-crowd wannabes who lost their savings to Cotten’s company, Quadriga CX.
There is a comedic value here. The film shows how the transparency supposedly inherent in cryptocurrency has enabled Cotten to run an apparently brutal Ponzi scheme. So a seemingly better way of banking may turn out to be a better mousetrap for those looking to grab 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 strange comings and goings of his corpse, his death seems to have actually happened. At the end of the film, the on-screen text states 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 Crypto Mystery
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 18 minutes. Check out Discovery+.