A new original scripted series from Sony Corp.-owned Crackle is set to combine an interesting mix of subjects: gangs, drama, and an altcoin startup.

The series, titled The Startup, revolves around a startup that is pitching an altcoin by the name of GenCoin, and stars English actor Martin Freeman and The OC’s Adam Brody.

According to Crackle, the storyline “explores what happens when a brilliant, yet controversial tech idea gets incubated on the wrong side of the tracks by three strangers who don’t necessarily fit the mold of tech entrepreneurs.”

Although the trailer for the series doesn’t give us all the details, what it does provide will sound familiar to anyone interested in or involved in the Bitcoin and general cryptocurrency space, including the product pitch early in, where a character states “50 percent of the world’s population doesn’t have a bank account, but almost all of them have a cell phone. That’s GenCoin.”

The clip then goes on to describe GenCoin has a currency that no one uses, but they will, “because it will change the world.”

“It’s digital currency. Unregulated. Untraceable,” a voice-over adds.

The rest of the clip introduces an FBI agent who appears to be investigating GenCoin, along with gangsters who have also taken an interest in it as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=M_XSewKQQa0

Not Bitcoin

Despite what some within the Bitcoin community itself think, along with the folks over at Motherboard, the story isn’t about Bitcoin, despite there being parallels in the fact that both are clearly alternative forms of digital currency.

What the show does clearly reflect though, is some of the shadier people and “startups” (we use the term loosely) that have come and gone in the altcoin space in the past few years, with the most prominent of them in recent times being the Josh Garza-run Paycoin.

Most cases of dubious altcoins have involved what are essentially pump and dump scams and/or elements of Ponzi schemes to sell a product that has zero worth and is only as good as the investors pumping money into it.

It’s not clear from the trailer whether this is entirely the case with GenCoin, but certainly the involvement of the FBI and gangs suggest a level of criminality being involved.

The series is set to debut on Crackle later this year and it will be interesting to see exactly what elements from real life they’ve used to create the show.

Image credit: Crackle.