Banking on Bitcoin

This is not really a documentary. This is just a quick rehash of blog posts and some talking heads brought in to make it look respectable. And there is no story to tell here, just some data, too badly structured even for a book published with a not so great publisher.

The facts about 2008 crisis are falsified; on purpose or because of ignorance. The producers want to impose the idea that bitcoin is a revolution towards an utopia; and bad banks and governments are against it. In fact; though impossible; the world bitcoin would create if it replaced paper money, would be an ultra liberal one with no public services, no loan mechanism, high jobless population and big income inequality. The documentary is misleading on bitcoin that makes you think that its fate is in hands of a bunch of illiterate simple minded dreamers, actually bitcoin and criptocurrency is far from that and deserves credit and attention.

I don't know if it's funny, but then again humor is in the eye of the beholder. One thing is for sure, some people were able to do a lot of money. And then as with every currency, some did things with Bitcoin or dealt with it in ways that are not legal. But how can you always know how your product is going to be used? In this case apparently one of the founders knew about something ... but more about this when you watch the movie.

It's an interesting look behind the scenes. Though I learned even more when I watched a special from John Oliver. Although he did a bit with all "Cryptocurrencies" so it was much broader (but also shorter, around 20 minutes). This is a nice what happened and how it started, for people who never really informed themselves about Bitcoin but always hear about it ...

Great propaganda. Now, what are the nuts and bolts of how bitcoin works? I watched this entire film thinking I, the clueless, was going to be educated on how to get started. All I got was 83 minutes of "government bad, bitcoin good." I know as little about bitcoin as I did before this 83 minute waste of my time.

I found this documentary very well done, particularly in regards of explaining the basic concepts and ideas behind Bitcoin (as both, an open, decentralized ledger rather than a 'currency', and an ambitious social experiment).

To me as someone who is relatively new into crypto, it was also interesting and enlightening to see short interview clips with the pioneers of Bitcoin (and other approaches to decentralized payment systems), witnesses to it's early history, and although the movie doesn't reveal who Satoshi was ;-) , Cannucciary found a pretty nice way in teasing the viewer with clues on who he might have been, or at least what kind of person he might have been and the visions that drove him.

All in all, this documentary should turn out as nicely entertaining and interesting 90 minutes for every Bitcoin / blockchain enthusiast.