A Wannabe Netflix Raised $575 Million on Ethereum

What started as a $575 million token sale is now a rewards program for watching videos.

TaTaTu's initial coin offering was among the biggest of 2018, with film producer Andrea Iervolino raising money from royals like Lady Monika Bacardi, of the famous liquor family.

Despite being entirely run by a band of remote freelancers hired by tech-newcomer Iervolino, the project was one of the top-five largest token sales of 2018, behind EOS and Telegram.

Now Iervolino says crypto was never really the point.

Iervolino told CoinDesk this is because, despite what the TaTaTu white paper originally listed, this token sale was mostly done through private investments.

Around the same time as the sale, Iervolino, a relatively unknown producer, was seen yachting with Selena Gomez.

"We finished the shooting of the first section of the movie," Iervolino said.

Iervolino confirmed Banderas received tokens as part of the "Lamborghini" production deal.

Although TaTaTu critics now describe the token sale as merely opportunistic, Iervolino prefers to see the startup as creating a "Circular economy" that rewards users with tokens for watching films, plus fashion shows and sporting events.

Regardless of TaTaTu's traction, it's clear the token sale elevated Iervolino's status in Hollywood.