Netflixtip: Shiny Flakes

I haven't started on the second and third season that are now online (yet), but I found the first season really cool: How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast). And since I do enjoy a true story, it became even more interesting when I found out it was based on the ‘career’ of the German Maximilian Schmidt.

Because he built a real drug empire, all from his own bedroom. In two years and starting at the age of seventeen. All online, under the name Shiny Flakes. In those two years, he made a ton of money, until it went wrong: he was arrested and put behind bars. The police suspect that he earned over four million euros, but they can't be sure. Maximilian is said to have traded a lot in bitcoins, but they can't trace that. The two bitcoin wallets they found couldn't be cracked.

That was all in 2015, and Maximilian was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released early in 2019, and I think it's very likely that he was particularly happy when he checked his bitcoin wallet again.

It remains an intriguing story, and waiting for a documentary was just a matter of time. Shiny Flakes: Teenage Drugs Lord tells the ‘real’ story, in which he also gets to speak. The series is really fun and well made, and of course a bit exaggerated to make it more exciting; I actually find the real story a bit more interesting. This is definitely a recommendation, although I wouldn't see it as career advice. Well, except maybe for that bitcoin part. I could have invested a bit more in that back then.