The documentary film is like a manual for those who want to learn more about blockchain technology and bitcoin. A co-founder of Ethereum is one of its producers
The history of current accounting technology is summarized in an 84-minute film. With Trust Machine, the British Director Alex Winter narrates the rise reached by cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the global financial sector.
Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of blockchain software technology firm ConsenSys, is one of the executive producers. The film was premiered on October 26th in New York. It is about the history of Bitcoin and the promising use cases of distributed accounting technology.
As detailed by the creators of the film, Trust Machine seeks to illustrate how blockchain technology is being used to “change the world, combat income inequality, world hunger and refugee crises”.
The film has its own website, where fans of cinema and the ones who love technological world can find trailers, a synopsis, screenings, a photo gallery and even a glossary to understand all the terms related to blockchain technology.
Talking about the history of bitcoin, the film recognizes the 2008 global financial crisis as the reason why the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto developed an open and decentralized book for transactions. However, not everything turned out perfectly, so the documentary laments that BTC initially became famous for its use in illicit Internet businesses and alleges that, unfortunately, this earned the flagship cryptocurrency a perception and reputation that it stills trying to get rid.
A Movie for All
Critics have pointed out that the documentary serves as a useful handbook for anyone unfamiliar with blockchain technology. The New York Times film critic, Ben Kenigsberg, says the film serves as a solid aid for teaching: “A mix of leftover arguments for the technology of blockchain, ‘Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain’, directed by Alex Winter, is not always a model of clarity, but it does a decent job explaining the basic concept”. According to the documentary film, some of the contributions that the technology of blockchain can make to the world include combating identity theft and transforming energy distribution through the empowerment of micro-producers of energy, such as households that can generate solar energy and sell the excess to the network. But, despite all the revolutionary potential of blockchain technology, Winter’s film admits that what attracts most people to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is the desire to get rich. “Still, for most people in the world at the moment, the most exciting thing about blockchain is the possibility of making a fortune overnight. In its final scenes, the narration of the film recognizes how attractive this field is to scammers and speculators”, The Hollywood Reporter says. It is not the first documentary directed by Alex Winter about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Three years ago, the director made a 90-minute film, Deep Web, which documented the arrest of Silk Road’s webmaster, Ross Ulbricht. The film was narrated by Keanu Reeves. Winter, also an actor in films such as Bill and Ted, directed other films about technologies such as Napster.
Also, in October 2014, another short documentary called “The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin” was published, while Alex J. Mann created another documentary called “Crypto” in September of this year, a Kurt Russell movie that promises to be an action thriller set in the world of illicit business with cryptocurrencies.
The big screen may act as a multiplier agent that helps bring this type of technology to the public and, consequently, encourage the massive adoption of digital assets and distributed accounting technologies in everyday life.
By María Rodríguez
