The story of Quadriga’s Gerald Cotton’s sudden disappearance with US$250 millions, leaving a wife (who was given millions after his death!) as the focus of a Netflix documentary; the spotlight on fashion’s own Lauren Remington Platt for mixing fashion and blockchain; and the envy-inducing narrative of Binance’s boy genius Zhao Changpeng living the high life with his Crypto exchange, have kept the fascination for Cryptocurrency unabated.

This inspired Netflix to release Crypto Boy, a predictable tale about young Amir who gets involved with the promise of riches and discovers fraud. The film takes us to Amsterdam, where Amir’s dad runs a Mexican restaurant, surrounded by neighbours watching football and debating the move to a new place when the developer offers money.

Meanwhile, Amir is hustling with Chinese beard growth oil to teens, instead of delivering burritos for his dad. Their relationship is a love-hate one; the father wishing his son to work hard because he had to, and the son tired of the everyday struggle. A chance meeting at an event leads Amir to the world of Crypto. His smooth-talking skills get him into the Crypto Bros, only to be let down by them.

From Amir’s story, we can learn three lessons:

Lesson 1: Dreams of financial independence are good, but be cautious. Amir is so fed up of his life that he’s easily enticed by the speech at the event. He quickly makes money, goes to parties with the Crypto Bros, and argues with his dad who says hard work is the only way. We too can get taken in by the promise of unbelievable returns of schemes and crypto funds. But remember that when we invest our life savings, there’s no help when the fancy offices of the ‘fund’ are empty and we are victims of fraud.

Lesson 2: If a scheme sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Amir is used by the Crypto Bros as a money mule, and he doesn’t realise that the bank account he shared with the company is being used for fraud. His sales pitch also works on a neighbour, Berta, who invests her life savings in the same Crypto app. When the ponzi scheme is exposed, they realise they have been defrauded. We should invest only with reputed financial entities and be aware of smooth operators.

Lesson 3: Family eats free. Recovering from fraud is never easy. Amir’s father realises his son wants to get into the world of crypto and money. He doesn’t understand it, but tells his son to use his saved money to go to college and get an education. Amir has already spent the money in crypto and, wanting to get it back, he gets into a physical fight with the serial fraudster. The neighbours pool money and Amir’s dad opens a new restaurant. Amir learns his lesson and helps out. Even when we make mistakes, family should rally around us instead of berating us. We should also cooperate with the authorities to bring the criminals to book.

Crypto currency is a new and unknown thing. It’s easy to see young people living in condos and spending money, and be jealous of that lifestyle. But not everyone who delivers food from McDonalds becomes Zhao Changpeng. Amir’s story is a reflection of many true-life crypto tragedies, and yet it gives us hope.