Parents' Guide to Bitconned

Movie NR 2024 94 minutes
Bitconned movie poster: In the background, images of luxury cars and airplanes. In the foreground, Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's chief operating officer and one of the digital startup's co-founders, faces the camera and sits on a pile of bitcoins, wearing casual sports attire that includes a dark blue long-sleeved sports top, matching pants, and white high-top sneakers. The film's title and credits appear in red, white, green, and pink letters

Common Sense Media Review

Sabrina McFarland By Sabrina McFarland , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Get-rich-quick greed in cybercrime docu; language, smoking.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Still from Bitconned: From left to right, Sam "Sorbee" Sharma, Centra Tech's president and co-founder, Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's chief operating officer and co-founder, and Robert Farkas, Centra Tech's chief financial officer and co-founder face the camera, wearing business suit attire
  • Still from Bitconned: Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's chief operating officer and co-founder, sits in a chair for an in-person interview, wearing casual sports attire that includes a black long-sleeved top and matching pants
  • Still from Bitconned: Reenactment scene from the film that features in shadow images Sam "Sorbee" Sharma, Centra Tech's president and co-founder who is seated, and Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's chief operating officer and co-founder who stands during a discussion about the business in one of the company's offices

Parent and Kid Reviews

See all
age 16+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

See all 2 parent reviews
 

 

What's the Story?

In BITCONNED, Raymond Trapani, Sam "Sorbee" Sharma, and Robert Farkas create a company called Centra Tech that issues debit cards to clients who wish to spend their cryptocurrency earnings anytime and anywhere. The digital startup, however, needs funds for its launch in 2017. The team also lacks knowledge about the newly formed crypto market. To attract investors, the firm's co-founders fabricate their finance expertise and experience. Through firsthand interviews, archival footage and photos, and reenactments, the film looks at Centra Tech's rise and fall as the first high-profile crypto fraud case brought by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say : Not yet rated

One central component in this thought-provoking documentary's cautionary tale about the early days of the crypto market is a personal childhood story. "Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be a criminal," says Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's president and co-founder in Bitconned. He also admits to "having a good brain for making money."

As a young individual, Trapani reportedly earned about $5,000 a day from illegal prescription sales before entering the emerging and uncharted cryptocurrency world in 2017. In that year, according to the documentary, an estimated $4.9 billion was invested into crypto startups, with up to 78% of these being scams. "You've got to figure out some way to finesse the system," explains Trapani. "We lied, we cheated, and made millions of dollars."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the communication shared by the cast in Bitconned. How do they also demonstrate perseverance and teamwork? Why are these important character strengths?

  • What do you think about the legal rulings in the Centra Tech case? Were they fair? Why, or why not?

  • Why is it important to practice online safety? What steps would you take to avoid an internet scam?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

Bitconned movie poster: In the background, images of luxury cars and airplanes. In the foreground, Raymond Trapani, Centra Tech's chief operating officer and one of the digital startup's co-founders, faces the camera and sits on a pile of bitcoins, wearing casual sports attire that includes a dark blue long-sleeved sports top, matching pants, and white high-top sneakers. The film's title and credits appear in red, white, green, and pink letters

What to Watch Next

See all

Best Animal Documentaries

See all

Best Documentaries and Docuseries

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate