Pete Davidson and Casey Affleck have been cast in leading roles in “Killing Satoshi,” a biographical conspiracy thriller about Bitcoin and its elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, directed by Doug Liman from a script by Nick Schenk. The project, announced in August 2025, is framed as a high‑stakes story in which unlikely antiheroes confront some of the most powerful interests in global finance, weaving political intrigue, high‑tech espionage and a race against time over who controls money and the future of the monetary system. The film is being independently produced, with crypto and gambling entrepreneur Calvin Ayre—portrayed in the film by Davidson—providing a significant share of the financing. Beyond its subject matter, “Killing Satoshi” is drawing attention for its extensive planned use of artificial intelligence in production, which has already sparked industry debate. According to casting and production notices, actors will work on a markerless performance‑capture stage rather than on traditional locations, with all environments and backgrounds to be generated using AI tools in post‑production. Producers have also reserved contractual rights to use generative AI and machine learning to “change, add to, take from, translate, reformat or reprocess” captured performances—such as adjusting facial and body movements—while pledging not to create recognizable digital replicas without written consent. Positioning itself as a kind of “Social Network of Bitcoin,” the film aims both to dramatize one of the central mysteries of the crypto era and to serve as a test case for how far AI‑assisted filmmaking can go within emerging union and ethical boundaries.

AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

More coverage

Explore the topic

More on Conspiracy

Trial begins today in New York for the Peraire-Bueno brothers, who swiped $25 million from trading bots and are accused of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering

Trial begins today in New York for the Peraire-Bueno brothers, who swiped $25 million from trading bots and are accused of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering

Businessinsider ·

Inner City Press reports the jury has reached a partial verdict in the Roman Storm case, finding a guilty verdict on conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmittal business, not guilty on sanctions evasion, and no unanimity on money laundering

Inner City Press reports the jury has reached a partial verdict in the Roman Storm case, finding a guilty verdict on conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmittal business, not guilty on sanctions evasion, and no unanimity on money laundering

𝕏/@innercitypress ·

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is heading to trial for conspiracy to commit money laundering—raising the question: is writing privacy code now a crime?

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is heading to trial for conspiracy to commit money laundering—raising the question: is writing privacy code now a crime?

archive.ph ·

Gotbit founder extradited to the U.S. to face market manipulation and fraud conspiracy charges.

Gotbit founder extradited to the U.S. to face market manipulation and fraud conspiracy charges.

justice.gov ·

In an oral statement issued on Thursday, Tornado Cash judge says code is not speech, non-custodial service providers can be money service businesses, and specific knowledge of criminal activity is not a prerequisite for charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In an oral statement issued on Thursday, Tornado Cash judge says code is not speech, non-custodial service providers can be money service businesses, and specific knowledge of criminal activity is not a prerequisite for charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

therage.co ·

Co-founder and former CTO of Paxful Inc. Artur Schaback pleads guilty to conspiracy to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, faces up to five years in federal prison.

Co-founder and former CTO of Paxful Inc. Artur Schaback pleads guilty to conspiracy to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, faces up to five years in federal prison.

justice.gov ·

Explore the full feed

Comments

Up nextForma shuts down its chain over unsustainable operations, moving NFTs to Ethereum