Bitcoin is the world's leading virtual currency, but unlike real money, it is not backed by a government or properly regulated. Bitcoin is exchanged and held digitally by users - which is attractive to criminals selling drugs, pornography and arms. But now Bitcoin is moving into the mainstream and being openly marketed as an investment opportunity. The film investigates what Bitcoin is and what it means, going inside a Bitcoin mine in Iceland - where currency is made - and spending time with the Bitcoin millionaires of Silicon Valley. The programme also hears from others who have been scammed out of their life savings and investors who think the cryptocurrency is an enormous scam and that the writing is on the wall. Around the world, authorities are sounding the alarm that Bitcoin is too risky - is it too late, or too crazy, to try to become a Bitcoin millionaire?
Cullen Hoback dives into one of the most enduring and high-stakes mysteries in technology and finance: the origins of Bitcoin and the identity of its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. More than a decade after Satoshi's disappearance, Bitcoin now threatens to disrupt the global financial order, forcing nations to reconsider the very nature of money as Satoshi potentially stands to become the richest person on earth. Known for uncovering clandestine subcultures and movements through digital forensics, Hoback immerses himself with key players, uncovers never-before-seen clues, and humorously unravels Bitcoin's chaotic origins and meteoric rise. The documentary offers a thrilling, globe-spanning investigation into the intentions of Bitcoin's enigmatic inventor, as Hoback encounters those who could be Satoshi, seeking to reveal who holds the power -- and what they might do with it if Bitcoin were woven into our daily lives.
The programme also hears from others who have been scammed out of their life savings and investors who think the cryptocurrency is an enormous scam and that the writing is on the wall. Around the world, authorities are sounding the alarm that Bitcoin is too risky - is it too late, or too crazy, to try to become a Bitcoin millionaire?