Directed by Bryan Storkel
I have personally never invested in cryptocurrency. Perhaps that is oversharing my own financial strategies, or lack thereof, or perhaps that makes me supremely unqualified to comment on this film, which is a documentary about a pretty ludicrous cryptocurrency scam called Centra, led by a trio of shady individuals: Sam “Sorbee” Sharma, Ray Trapani and Robert Farkas. Or maybe it makes me the voice of reason to lead a commentary on such a documentary, with one of the major contributing factors to my hesitancy to invest in crypto being my skepticism, which this film does nothing but worsen. Another would be my complete lack of knowledge and understanding on the topic. This also make me the exact mark for a film like this, which attempts to highlight and shed light on the wild wild west that is cryptocurrency today, but perhaps especially five years ago. As a non-expert, I can’t say whether it’s still a cesspool of scams. But I have to imagine it’s still filled with the rich preying on the needy, looking for a get rich quick scheme that just doesn’t exist.
Bryan Storkel’s film chronicles the scam of Centra Card, the “business” set up by the trio, but it really centers Ray Trapani in the story. One reason is that Sharma was, erm, unavailable to participate let’s say. Another is his larger than life persona and image of himself makes him both a willing participant and interesting character study in this case. Robert Farkas was more just kinda there. In concept, the idea of Centra Card is a great one, which is likely why they were able to generate as much buzz and acceptance without the due diligence of their investors. People wanted to believe in the idea. In simplest terms, there is no way to directly spend your value in cryptocurrency. I can’t walk into the grocery store and buy my produce with BitCoin or Ethereum. What Centra Card proposed was a debit card which worked directly with your BlockChain wallet to swipe at any store as a simple Visa card, but deduct the funds from your crypto balance instead of a bank account or credit card. Genius on the surface, but simply too good to be true.
If there is one central message that I took away from this film, it’s that the media and real reporting is so important, and oft neglected in this day and age. With social media and internet access, misdirection and “fake news” is so prevalent. Forget cryptocurrency, there are no checks and balances on news and information verification, especially on sites like Facebook and X, where rumors and incorrect news are spread like wildfire. And even if a correction is issued after the fact, only the original post is remembered by the general public as fact. In this story, we have The New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper to thank for being the voice of reason, as he quickly and quite easily unravels the rather shoddy, thrown together framework these bozos put together which duped many out of millions of dollars. I’d say we can’t keep letting them get away with it, but in this country, unfortunately, I know it will just continue, the rich and unvirtuous robbing the poor and helpless.
“Real” money is already fake, only assigned value because we say so, where it’s supposedly backed by gold and silver (but it’s really not), and even then why are gold and silver assigned value other than it’s a rare, shiny thing. So if “real” money is fake, then cryptocurrency is really fake, it’s the same problem, only that you can’t even hold it in your hand, and as this film proves, you can’t directly spend it either. And just like the economy in the real world, the crypto economy, with no regulation and control, is just another way for the haves to control and suppress the have nots in the world. It’s a dangerous, slippery slope and I am far from qualified to identify a solution, but this ain’t it. It’s absolutely appalling the outcome of these three from a legal perspective. Sharma’s eight years is the most and honestly doesn’t seem enough, and Trapani essentially getting away with it in the end is absolutely infuriating. For those critics of the justice system, avert your eyes!
Bitconned proves to be a fruitful film to spur discussion and thought as it relates to the cryptocurrency market and topic in general. However, that doesn’t make it a good film. From a filmmaking perspective, there are many elements with which I disagreed with. Director Bryan Storkel’s concept of framing Ray Trapani in these glamourous ways (trying on suits, driving fancy sports cars, slo-mo vaping) prove a point about his inability to not just be a complete scumbag, no doubt, but it’s a fine line between allowing Trapani to create a self-parody, and glorifying his schemes and their outcomes to the audience. The recreation techniques also contribute to this. Overall, the film just felt too stylized for what should be a harsh critique of both the Centra scam and the industry in general. Trapani gets away with it even in the film about his scam. In what should be a cautionary tale, and one which drives home the point that these partners are true blue criminals, Bitconned misses the mark, making for a fascinating and at times entertaining ride in what is otherwise a fairly vapid retelling of a pretty heinous scam.
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