S5 E7: Torsten Hoffmann on his new Bitcoin film, "Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains, and the Future of the Internet"

Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
Episode • May 8, 2020 • 58m
May 7th 2020 has marked the global release of Torsten Hoffmann's second documentary about Bitcoin, titled "Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains, and the Future of the Internet". In this interview, he talks about some highlights from the film.
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Time stamps:

00:47 – Introduction

2:17 – Ticket prices and how the interviewees have changed since the last documentary (Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It)

4:18 – Approaching Roger Ver and remaining objective in presenting the scaling debate

6:55 – The explanatory animations in the documentary and reaching newbies

9:00 – The documentary's 3 chapters

11:26 – Why maximalists should pay more attention to the film before dismissing it

12:00 – Roger Ver going from Bitcoin Jesus to Bitcoin Judas

14:30 – Travelling around the world to film interviews

14:55 – Xapo's huge underground military storage facility

17:40 – Working on the film for 6 years

18:30 – Why watching the documentary in the cinema is a different experience

19:15 – Why Bitcoin documentaries made by community members are better

20:31 – The hero's journey

21:00 – The chapter about the history of the internet

22:08 – Mining innovation and using the cheapest kind of energy

23:54 – Why Bitcoin helps make energy more efficient

24:34 – Managing to distinguish between Bitcoin and scams in a way that doesn't create confusion

25:17 – Interviewing the inventor of ERC20 and confronting him with the scams he enabled

28:00 – Another ICO mania?

29:25 – The Ponzi psychology and human greed

30:20 – Is "Cryptopia" a conversation starter for nocoiners?

32:20 – What would Torsten change to his documentary?

33:45 – What would Vlad add to the documentary?

34:15 – Starting the project from the Bitcoin "Civil War" and removing parts to make it all less confusing

35:15 – Scaling Bitcoin

36:49 – Bitmain and SegWit

37:28 – The Andreas Antonopoulos quote that didn't make the final cut

38:25 – Should altcoins exist?

39:09 – Why maximalism is fascinating to Torsten Hoffmann

40:26 – Why Ethereum sucks

42:40 – Why BS V sucks

43:39 – A certain character who lives in London, files patents, and claims to have invented Bitcoin. Why does he belong in this film?

46:08 – Gigabyte blocks are a myth

47:53 – Interviewing Calvin?

49:21 – How was the feedback for "Cryptopia"?

51:15 – A newbie would have sucked at producing a documentary like this

52:39 – Why do projects need blockchains?

54:41 – DHL has been tracking items for years without blockchains

56:08 – Closing notes

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