Bitcoin the movie: It just had to happen

If youre still a bit clueless as to what Bitcoin is, you might want to head to New York and catch a screening of The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin is a documentary made by brothers Nicholas and Daniel Mross. Daniel is a software developer and a former Bitcoin miner, while Nicholas was the one in charge of documenting the Bitcoin world as experienced by his brother.

The film dives into the world of Bitcoin just as Daniel got involved with it in 2011. It goes into the basics of Bitcoin, such as mining, terms used, what exchange markets are, the whos-who of the Bitcoin community, and everything a newbie needs to know before deciding if he or she wants to get involved in a cryptocurrency that has gained a lot of attention, especially in 2013 when its value hit the $1,000 mark.

The film also lightly touched upon the controversies the Bitcoin community was faced with in recent months, such as the arrest of BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem, the fall of Mt.Gox, the FBIs takedown of the Silk Road, and the controversial fingering of one Dorian Nakamoto as the real Satoshi Nakamoto.

The film presents these bumps in the road as events of little consequence to the Bitcoin community; something that had to happen for the cryptocurrency to mature.

We wanted to stress, too, that bitcoin is a piece of software and its public domain. So anything that you tie to it, any externalities, dont actually have to do with it.

Its just a computer program. People are using it a lot of different ways, and thats what we tried to show, that theres a lot of different ways people are using it. So, to tie it to just one-particular-use cases, is a little bit short-sighted, I think, Daniel stated.

After the premier screening of the film, a panel was held which was moderated by New York Times financial markets reporter Nathaniel Popper. Daniel and Nicholas were open to questions from attendees who were mostly from the Bitcoin community, and surprisingly, Shrem was also in attendance albeit wearing an ankle monitor as hes currently under house arrest for money laundering charges. Shrem tried to make light of the situation he is currently facing and remains positive for his future, Bitcoin, and his involvement in the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin belongs to everyone, theres a place for Bitcoin in the heart of every person. Someday 10 years from now, 20 years from now Bitcoin will be powering underlying infrastructure of our banking system, or the way I send money to you, or to me, or from one person in China to pay for a surgery that needs to happen at 2:00 in the morning on a Saturday night, or for anything, Shrem stated.

Shrem added that he sees Bitcoin as the peoples currency and anyone can be involved in it.

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Bitcoin the movie: It just had to happen