Cold Wallet

There's a big gap between desperation and greed that a lot of Americans are seeing play out in 2025, and Cold Wallet is a tight crypto-thriller that both reflects and narrows that divide.

"Based on a slightly true story," it's a movie that expresses the desperation and frustration a lot of Americans feel today with financial institutions and the super-rich.

Cold Wallet is a heist / home invasion movie with a bit of a tech twist. Three Reditors lose everything in a cryptocurrency scam and band together to track down the kingpin in hopes of getting their money back. Tphis is probably a topic many viewers are unfamiliar with, yet director Cutter Hodierne does a great job guiding us through the world of Bitcoin, meme coins and other make-believe money. Cryptocurrency is presented as essentially a new form of gambling, appealing to bigshot "traders" making millions and regular people looking for quick ways out of desperate life situations.

We follow Billy (Raul Castillo) a blue-collar guy who wants to provide the American Dream for his shared-custody daughter. He imagines a day when she will be a princess visiting him in his mansion, and she believes it. For Billy, living a comfortable life isn't enough; the pendulum needs to swing from insolvent to multi-millionaire; there is no in-between. The top players in this game are making millions overnight trading in air, so why can't he? The line between desperation and greed becomes fuzzy.

One day, while riding high on his "Tulip" coin profits, everything crashes. Not only is his account drained, but he's now in debt for more $40,000. It seems Charles Hegel (Josh Brener), the creator of Tulip, has cashed out and scammed everyone who bought it.

Eva (Melonie Diaz), Billy's friend on a crypto subreddit, has managed to locate Hegel and proposes they go to his secluded mansion and force him to return their money. Joining the two of them is Dom (Tony Cavalero), Billy's spiritual friend who also sees this as a Robin Hood opportunity to give money back to all the victims of Charles Hegel.

Side note: kudos to Cutter Hodierne for using the actual Reddit, YouTube, and other websites. I have no idea what the rules are about this sort of thing, but it always takes me out of the moment when I see Hollywood OS.

This is sort of a five-man-band story with each character serving a different archetype. Eva is the brains of the operation, Dom is the heart and brawn, while Billy represents the everyman leader caught up in events he never anticipated. Hegel may be the evil, greedy villain, but it's not that simple.

All the characters are all motivated by greed to some extent. Cold Wallet asks us to decide if there is a degree of greed that's okay, even honorable. We all move that bar to justify our own actions. At what point does greed define you? We seem to have no difficulty recognizing and condemning it in other people.

Charles Hegel is a horrible person who represents the worst kind of sleazy crypto bro. In a recent interview, I asked Josh Brener about creating a delicious a character we love to hate. He reminded me that every villain is a hero in his own story and that even Hegel might have been motivated by more than simply greed.

Is home invasion and holding a man hostage at gunpoint justified? Do some people just deserve what's coming to them? Cold Wallet asks us to confront our own biases and moral compasses.

Aside from all this, Cold Wallet is a thrilling adventure taking place mostly in a single location. The script is tight, full of surprises, and kept me constantly wondering what would happen to each of these four people. There are also some very funny and ironic moments, mostly from Dom, the lovable new-age wall of meat who reminds Billy to find his spiritual center before pulling a trigger. If you've seen The Righteous Gemstones, Tony Cavalero played a very similar character and I love it

I'm not a huge consumer of heist movies so I'm not sure how this will be received by superfans of Mission Impossible or Ocean's Eleven. It's not full of action and it's certainly not a big budget Hollywood production, in fact, the film was shot in a very cold and snowy Massachusetts.

Bottom line: Cold Wallet is a tense thriller worth seeing, even if you're not into heist flicks. I had a lot of fun with this story and these distinct characters because the performances were so good. Cutter Hodierne has crafted a well shot movie that zips along and tells a compelling story that balances tension, action, and character depth with social commentary. The ending is a little sad, yet equally satisfying. Is it justified? Check your moral compass.

I like movies and shows that make me think about them in the days and weeks following. This one did that. Some allegorical themes on capitalism coming from the rich tech guy. I really didn't like him... a testament to a job well done. I especially liked the music... silent night was a nice touch. There were well placed funny moments of levity to keep my heart rate down. Was giving me some serious wtf's... in a good way! I'm going to watch again to catch any little foreshadows or fun correlations that might come from knowing the ending. Checked all of the boxes of a "crypto-heist thriller" I guess Steven Soderbergh knows good movies. Ha!

What makes Cold Wallet so compelling is how real it feels. It's not just a story about cryptocurrency-it's about the people who get caught up in it, the hope it promises, and the fallout when that hope turns to desperation. The film doesn't get lost in technical jargon or try to explain how blockchain works. Instead, it focuses on something much more human: what happens when everything you've gambled on disappears overnight.

At the heart of the film is Billy (Raúl Castillo), a father trying to create a better life for himself and his daughter. Like so many others, he sees crypto as his golden ticket-a way out of struggle and into stability. But when the currency he invested in crashes, he finds himself with nothing. Instead of accepting his loss, he and his friends Dom (Tony Cavalero) and Eva (Melonie Diaz) decide to take matters into their own hands, leading them on a tense, darkly comedic journey that spirals further out of control with every decision they make.

One of the things I loved about Cold Wallet is how it balances tension and humor. The stakes are high, and you feel Billy's desperation in every scene, but there are also these perfectly timed moments of dark comedy that make it feel all the more real. Because let's be honest-life is messy. Even in the middle of a crisis, there are awkward interactions, impulsive decisions, and moments so absurd you almost have to laugh. The film captures that perfectly.

Raúl Castillo is incredible as Billy. He brings so much depth to the character, making you root for him even as he starts making decisions that you know are going to end badly. He's not a hero or a villain-just a guy trying to fix a situation that feels impossible. Tony Cavalero and Melonie Diaz are just as strong, bringing both humor and heart to their roles. And then there's Josh Brener as Charles Hegel, the crypto mogul at the center of it all. He plays the kind of tech-world genius we've all seen before-brilliant, arrogant, and just slippery enough that you're never sure if he's telling the truth.

Visually, Cold Wallet does a great job of pulling you into its world. It's not flashy or overly stylized, but the cinematography keeps things tight and intimate, making you feel like you're right there with Billy as he falls deeper into his own mess. The tension builds slowly, not through action-packed scenes, but through conversations, choices, and the quiet realization that things are about to go very, very wrong.

What really stuck with me, though, is how Cold Wallet taps into something bigger than just cryptocurrency. It's about the chase for financial freedom, the way people get drawn into systems they don't fully understand, and how easy it is to believe that one good decision can change everything. We've all seen stories of people striking it rich overnight, but this film reminds us of the ones who don't-the ones left picking up the pieces when the system crashes.

In the end, Cold Wallet isn't just a thriller-it's a character study, a cautionary tale, and a darkly funny ride all rolled into one. It's a film that keeps you on edge, makes you think, and stays with you long after the credits roll. Whether you're into crypto or not, it's a must-watch.

Cold Wallet is a movie about crypto currency so you could say it's very far from my bed as I have absolutely no interest at all in that kind of business. In my eyes it's something doomed to fail at one point, only handy for gangsters like Trump and co. But even though it's not my thing I watched it and kinda enjoyed the story. It wasn't perfect though, with a rather disappointing ending in my opinion, and too amateur in the kidnapping of the crypto mogul. Why would you let him speak at all and try to influence you? Just cut his fingers off one by one and the problem will be solved by the second finger, and that's a guarantee. But then you would just have a very short movie I guess. That said, it's worth a watch.

Cold Wallet is loosely based on the QuadrigaCX Scandal, after the supposed death of CEO Gerald Cotten in India.

Like in the film, many suspect that Cotten had purchased a death certificate from Indian authorities; faked his death; and ran away with the proceeds of the exchange, where all of Quadriga user's crypto assets were said to be locked in a cold wallet that he held the only key to.

Obviously, here, they switched India with Kenya...and took artistic liberties with the aftermath of the whole ordeal.

With, at least some of, the storyline harkening back to SBF's FTX ponzi scheme that permanently tarnished the reputation of the crypto realm in the eyes of the average person.

The plot, here, revolves around a rag-tag team of reddit vigilantes, who have set out to expose the truth about the culprit...and, ultimately, gain access to the millions of dollars he has locked away in his cold wallet (an offline wallet designed to hold crypto assets).

While the culprit tries to play the vigilantes against one another, in a thrilling battle of wits.

The film does a pretty decent job of keeping itself open to laypeople who aren't privy to the jargon and intricacies of the crypto space.

Though, having knowledge of the realm will surely lead you to appreciate the story a little more.

It's certainly not a great film, by any means.

But it's entertaining enough of a crime-thriller to sit through and enjoy.

Though, one might argue it's a case of the truth being more intriguing than fiction.

So you might be encouraged to check out one of the documentaries on the subject as well.

Because the true story behind this film is actually pretty wild.

4 out of 10.