Crypto in Popular Culture: Exolix Roundtable Recap

The Exolix Roundtable held its first pilot episode on 03.06.2026, bringing together guests from ShopinBit, Dash, Dogelon Mars, Pirate Chain, and Hive for an open discussion about the place of cryptocurrencies in popular culture. The full event announcement is available here.

This pilot marked a departure from the usual themes of markets and products, instead exploring cryptocurrency through a different angle: the depictions in films, TV, fiction, press, video games, and popular media. In addition to discussing how accurate these depictions were, the conversation also considered how they affected people's perceptions of the whole industry.

From the earliest mentions of Bitcoin on television to stories about FTX, Quadriga, privacy coins, books for kids, and even crypto crimes, there was no shortage of material on this fascinating topic.

How do people outside crypto usually discover the industry?

Very few individuals learn about cryptocurrencies from the whitepaper or by using a wallet for themselves. Normally, one's initial exposure to the subject comes from a news item, movie, documentary, or someone else making or losing massive amounts of money.

It is important because one's initial perception lasts for a very long time. Thus, if an individual learns about cryptocurrency through FTX or any other negative news, he or she will automatically start viewing all cryptocurrencies in a negative light.

For crypto enthusiasts, topics include self-custody, payments, freedom, privacy, ownership, and decentralization. However, for outsiders, cryptocurrencies remain something mysterious, risky, and sometimes even linked to scams. Closing such a gap remains one of the largest barriers at the moment.

It is worth remembering that cryptocurrency is more than technology -- it's culture too. And people need not just to understand the technology but the purpose behind it.

What early crypto references in TV shows stood out to you?

A good example of the early use of Bitcoin can be found in The Good Wife, where an episode with a fictional Satoshi Nakamoto was aired around 2012. The show clearly reflects how bitcoin was regarded at the time - weird, nerdy, legally uncertain, and difficult to comprehend by regular users.

Nevertheless, at that time, the attempts of writers to use Bitcoin as the subject matter of their plot were clearly visible. They did not understand the technology well enough, but they recognized the newness and the cultural importance of this concept.

Mr. Robot, on the other hand, provides a better example of a TV series that deals with digital currencies, digital money, financial control, surveillance, and cybersecurity in general. Rather than using Bitcoin simply as another form of "cybercriminal money," Mr. Robot explores the topic of digital currencies as part of a discussion on power and control.

Such an interpretation seems more productive to me since cryptocurrency involves many aspects other than the exchange itself, such as control over money and infrastructure.

Which crypto-related show felt more accurate?

Silicon Valley may have been one of the best. While it was certainly entertaining, it definitely knew more about the culture of tech startups than any other series I've seen.

In part because it was honest about the fact that crypto isn't magical. Instead, the show included all the elements that are so common in reality - the founder's ego, the hype, the technical ambitions and ridiculous ideas, the funding pressures, etc. For anyone who worked in technology, many aspects were quite recognizable.

It helped that everything related to crypto was relatively realistic and that even small details such as the information on the whiteboard in the background were correct.

Many other TV shows use crypto as shorthand for "hacker," "ransom," or "hidden money." Silicon Valley was not one of them, mainly because the creators of the series understood how the industry is sometimes insane, but always real.

Why is crypto so often connected with crime in movies and media?

Cryptocurrency is always associated with a good story.

If you are writing a script for a movie or some news article, thefts, hackers, scandals, losses will get your story much better attention compared to such stories as remittances, self-custody, payments rails, or open-source infrastructure.

For that reason, there can be quite negative connotations connected to the cryptocurrency. For example, ransoms by Bitcoin, a hacker attack on an exchange, a criminal wallet, an enigmatic creator of some coins, a person who lost all their savings, etc. All these things are sensational.

Unfortunately, that is how we create the perception of the cryptocurrency world. Indeed, there are various fraud cases, and sometimes people lose their savings. FTX, Terra/Luna, Celsius, Mt. Gox, and Quadriga - are well-known companies whose owners were cheating people.

However, not everything here is bad. People have been creating legitimate payment infrastructure, privacy infrastructure, wallets, exchanges, decentralized communities, social protocols, or new financial products instead of broken traditional finance.

Why is Bitcoin privacy so misunderstood?

However, many people still believe that Bitcoin transactions are anonymous, which is incorrect. Bitcoin transactions are transparent and recorded in the public ledger.

At the same time, it does not mean that all wallets will have a name associated with them right away. Once the address becomes related to someone's identity, company, exchange account or any other publicly known information, it will be easy to track the history of transactions made from that address.

This fact explains the misleading image created by Bitcoin in Hollywood films. Bitcoin is advertised as a perfect currency for any criminal activity while it is far more traceable and identifiable than the audience understands.

Another reason is that the discussion about privacy should be taken into consideration. The term 'privacy' is not equal to something suspicious. In traditional finance, no one would consider making all payments, salaries, accounts, donations or deals transparent and accessible to the public.

The issue is important because it allows protecting everyone who needs to keep personal financial details private. This message is far from the one conveyed by mass media sources.

How did books and journalism influence crypto's public image?

The power of books and longform journalism, as opposed to the power of short news headlines, lies in their ability to frame our view of something in its entirety.

Number Go Up by Zeke Faux, for instance, is special in its approach in exploring crypto. Instead of using insider knowledge about the industry, Faux writes from an outsider's perspective, getting deep into the crypto culture, riding the NFT hype, checking up on celebrities, traveling, investigating, and trying to understand the crypto mindset.

While such a style may be uncomfortable for crypto aficionados, it serves a good purpose: illustrating how peculiar the whole crypto ecosystem looks from the outside.

Another example of influential books within crypto is Michael Lewis's book on Sam Bankman-Fried. All the controversy surrounding the publication had to do with the author's portrayal of SBF. It was said that he made SBF come across too sympathetic, making him appear more as a gifted individual who simply made a few big mistakes rather than someone who actually did harm.

Such publications have cultural value: they form part of crypto's memory and perception of crypto as such.

How are gaming and crypto connected culturally?

This makes the game the clear entry point into crypto, as gamers understand the concept of digital assets.

Prior to non-fungible tokens going mainstream, gaming communities were trading, buying, collecting and trading valuable digital assets. These included skins, in-game currencies, rare items, and even digital marketplace features.

Even Mt. Gox started out as a place to trade Magic: The Gathering Online cards. This fact speaks volumes. The early crypto scene was heavily connected to internet culture and the collection and trading of digital assets.

That's why there have been multiple discussions about games within cryptocurrency circles. There certainly have been many failed projects in the space. But the environment seems fitting, considering gamers understand digital assets.

The question is to build games where digital assets serve to enhance the user experience.

Why did children's books about Bitcoin come up?

Children's literature has arisen due to their depiction of the complete opposite of the cryptocurrency world. Examples of children's crypto literature include Goodnight Bitcoin and B Is For Bitcoin. The primary focus here is not on crypto trading and predicting market movements but instead on explaining crypto basics, savings, and financial literacy in an understandable manner.

This is relevant since cryptocurrencies themselves remain a complex topic for most individuals who may struggle to comprehend digital wallets, private keys, blockchain technology, and ownership.

However, this means that we require educational solutions beyond those targeted only at adults. We must teach young people financial literacy since younger generations will inevitably grow up around digital transactions, crypto assets, artificial intelligence, and digital wallets, even digital currencies.

Thus, the issue at hand is not whether children should be told about such concepts but rather whether we could do it responsibly.

What did scandals like FTX and Quadriga do to crypto's reputation?

They have caused significant damage.

FTX was especially destructive since it was not some minor, obscure endeavor. It featured well-known individuals, massive institutions, politics, branding, and credibility. The collapse of FTX has made many non-crypto users think that the entire industry must be fraud and a scam.

Quadriga has shaken the industry differently, specifically in Canada. There were mysteries, missing money, bad management practices, the death of the founder, and a myriad of unresolved issues. The latter is one of those stories that will remain remembered due to their bizarre nature.

However, one should realize that any such a massive failure is enough to ruin the effect that other success stories can have. Legitimate developers of applications may waste years developing tools that can be used by many users, yet a scam would overshadow all of that.

Finally, one should mention that the industry cannot simply put the blame on journalists. Indeed, scams take place, and fraudulent activities happen all the time. However, they negatively impact the legitimate sector of the business.

Is crypto's image getting better?

Sure, slowly.

Crypto is still known for scams, crashes, and speculation, but at the same time, it is starting to seem more conventional. Today, people discuss the possibilities of cryptocurrency ETFs, regulations, stable coins, payment solutions, decentralized ownership, and the blockchain infrastructure itself.

However, this does not imply that people know anything about it properly. Nevertheless, crypto is no longer just some weird internet-based phenomenon. This technology has finally entered the sphere of finance and politics.

The most crucial question is whether we want the crypto to become a part of mainstream. In case crypto becomes just another asset class under the control of financial institutions, something crucial would be left out.

The ideal scenario would be when crypto becomes more user-friendly while still retaining all its unique features, such as self-custody, anonymity, access for everyone, resistance to censorship, etc.

What kind of crypto stories should exist more often?

We require narratives of crypto as being useful and relevant.

Not just narratives of individuals becoming wealthy. Not just narratives of scams and frauds. Nor narratives of crime. And certainly not promotional narratives.

We require narratives where the use of crypto arises because of a dysfunctionality in the local financial system. We require narratives of privacy, remittances, creator ownership, digital identity, and self custody in lieu of dependence on the banking or centralized exchange system.

Such stories will be less spectacular than the implosion of a billion dollar enterprise, but far more relevant to the real-world use cases.

The adoption of cryptocurrency is about the development of superior products. But more importantly, it is about the human rationale for those products.

END

From the first Exolix Roundtable, it is clear that the role crypto plays in popular culture remains ambiguous.

This sector is frequently depicted through stories of theft, fraud, crimes, missing wallets, and total collapses. Yet what lies beneath those tales is the far more intricate truth of privacy, custody, digital property, openness, accessibility, and innovative mechanisms of value transfer.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the first Exolix Roundtable and all participants for sharing their views.

Join us at Exolix on all our social channels to find out about upcoming Roundtables, Twitter Spaces, integrations, ecosystem campaigns, and community conversations.

There are more talks to come.