Bitcoin Fever Comes to Spain through the Big Screen

The documentary analyzes the impact of the introduction of cryptocurrencies through interviews with personalities such as Ricardo Salinas Pliego, David Noriega and Andrés Herzog.

“Who is afraid of Bitcoin (BTC)? The biggest fear comes from the states and centralized banking”. With this provocative question, the trailer of “Revolución Bitcoin”, the first film in Spanish about the cryptocurrency, opens in Madrid this Thursday, June 20. 

The 80-minute documentary features testimonies from protagonists of the bitcoin community in Latin America and Spain. It aims to explore the transformative potential of bitcoin and its cultural meaning, beyond the attractiveness of the digital asset in the market.

With the premise of being one of the technological disruptions of this time, the film records the different visions behind this innovation, which was created in 2009, and shows how its scope can benefit millions of people. 

“We decided to make this film because we consider bitcoin to be the most important technology that exists at the moment, and possibly one of the most revolutionary that humanity has had in history,” Juan Pablo Mejía, alias “Juan en Cripto,” one of the documentary’s producers, told a media outlet.

“Part of the history of bitcoin has always been documented from the point of view of investment, speculation and the opportunity to make money, but many aspects have been left out, such as the social, political, economic and financial impact. We wanted to show it from a Latin American point of view as well,” he added. 

A Bit of History

The documentary will be filmed between 2021 and 2023 in El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Spain. It features numerous businessmen, lawyers, journalists and content creators who promote bitcoin, including Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owner of Grupo Azteca; Andrés Herzog, lawyer and former presidential candidate of Spain; and Cristina Carrascosa, lawyer specialized in cryptocurrencies. 

“We wanted to show how different people in Latin America have found this opportunity and light at the end of the tunnel, even though our economic systems have suffered devaluations of their currencies or ‘corralitos’ of savings. The West does not know this and they think that money works very well. They don’t realize that this is not the case for everyone,” the producer added.  

Intended for Public Controversy

Since it was announced, the film has been attracting attention among bitcoiners. And the trailer previews an approach to the discussions behind the cryptocurrency designed by Satoshi Nakamoto.

“Before the 2008 crisis, the money supply was 8 trillion 0.8 points and now it is 8.2 trillion,” Ricardo Salinas points out in the documentary. “The Great Recession planted a small seed that began to germinate, and it was the seed of thinking that the monetary system really had a problem,” concludes another of the testimonies. 

Comments in favor of bitcoin point to the loss of credibility of money, as if it becomes “air” when trust in governments falls. That is why “money must be scarce,” as is the case with cryptocurrencies, another of the testimonies points out.

“Bitcoin fulfills a very important function, which is to have a neutral value reserve system that no politician, government or corporation can change,” the trailer defines. 

However, the voices of critics also appear. “I object to the bitcoin apostles because it gives the feeling that they only see the good,” one of the testimonials notes.  “It often gives the feeling, and I do not want to generalize, that it is pure speculation. And that the goal is not so much to change society, but literally to make a fortune,” they point out.

By Leonardo Perez