Bertram Gilfoyle

Kings of Crypto: One Startup's Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street
by Jeff John Roberts
Published 15 Dec 2020

In the show Billions, the main character Bobby Axelrod, who is reportedly based on real-life hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, turns to cryptocurrency to thwart SEC trading restrictions. “One million dollars straight in crypto, in chilly storage,” Bobby says, proffering a USB storage device to a minion. A few days later, HBO’s tech parody, Silicon Valley, would likewise air an episode that uses cryptocurrency as a central plot point. The episode depicts a main character, Bertram Gilfoyle, plunging forward with a plan to mine and distribute “Pied Piper Coins”—tokens named for his company—through an ICO. Pied Piper Coin would earn a place in crypto lore, but it would not be the most famous fictional coin to launch in 2018. Days after the Pied Piper episode, the crypto world buzzed with news of another ICO called “HoweyCoin.”