If you only watch three crypto films, pick these. For the basics, watch Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain (2018, Alex Winter). For the question of who invented Bitcoin, watch Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery (HBO, 2024). For the risks, watch Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery (2021). The newest release is Finding Satoshi, a documentary that came out on 22 April 2026. Almost every title below is a documentary. The best-known scripted crypto film, Doug Liman's Bitcoin, finished filming in April 2026 and has no release date yet.
New and upcoming
Finding Satoshi (April 2026)
Finding Satoshi came out on 22 April 2026 at findingsatoshi.com. CoinDesk names Tucker Tooley as director. The film follows investigative reporter William D. Cohan and private investigator Tyler Maroney. They narrow their suspects to a small group of cryptographers who had the technical skills and were involved in Bitcoin's early days. The filmmakers say they reached "a clear answer" and reveal it only in the film. Watch it after Money Electric so you can compare the two investigations.
Bitcoin (Doug Liman, release date not announced)
This scripted feature was first called Killing Satoshi. It is a biographical conspiracy thriller written by Nick Schenk. Casey Affleck plays Craig Steven Wright and Pete Davidson plays Calvin Ayre. Gal Gadot and Isla Fisher are also in the cast. Filming began in the United Kingdom in February 2026 and ended in late April. No release date has been announced.
Start here: how Bitcoin and blockchains work
Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain (2018)
Alex Winter wrote and directed this film, and Rosario Dawson narrates it. It premiered on 26 October 2018 and runs 84 minutes. It starts with Bitcoin and its link to the Silk Road market, then moves on to Ethereum and smart contracts. It also looks at real uses: energy microgrids, digital identity, and identity documents for stateless refugees. It gives the bubble argument a fair hearing. This is the best single starting point.
Explained: "Cryptocurrency" (Netflix, 2018)
This is episode 5 of season 1 of the Vox series Explained. Christian Slater narrates, and it came out on 6 June 2018. TheTVDB lists it at about 14 minutes, so it is the quickest primer here. It is also the oldest, so treat its market picture as a 2018 snapshot.
Bitcoin: Beyond the Bubble (2018)
Tim Delmastro directed this 35-minute documentary. He has said he made it because people were treating Bitcoin as a way to get rich quickly, and he wanted viewers to understand the technology instead. Listings name Jeff Berwick, Catherine Austin Fitts and Trace Mayer among the people interviewed.
Magic Money: The Bitcoin Revolution (2017)
This roughly 55-minute introduction is also by Tim Delmastro. Listings name Jeff Berwick, Trace Mayer, Tone Vays and Roger Ver among those appearing. It covers much of the same ground as Beyond the Bubble, so watch one or the other, not both.
Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It (2015)
Torsten Hoffmann and Michael Watchulonis directed this film of about 60 minutes. It is a short history of money and banking. It explains how banks create most money as debt and why its makers think Bitcoin matters. Andreas Antonopoulos, Jeffrey Tucker, Roger Ver and Michael Casey are interviewed. A review on Bitcoinist gave it 3 out of 5 and called it "a somewhat uneasy mix of activism and art".
Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet (2020)
Hoffmann and Watchulonis made this follow-up, which premiered in Berlin on 28 February 2020 and runs about 86 minutes. It asks whether blockchains could offer an alternative to the internet as we know it. Library catalogues list Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, Laura Shin and Roger Ver among those interviewed.
How long is each crypto documentary?
Sort the films by running time or year to find one that fits the time you have tonight.
| Film | Year | Running time (min, approx.) | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explained: "Cryptocurrency" (Netflix) | 2018 | 14 | Quickest primer; its market picture is dated | |
| Bitcoin: Beyond the Bubble | 2018 | 35 | The technology, not getting rich quickly | |
| Magic Money: The Bitcoin Revolution | 2017 | 55 | Introduction; overlaps with Beyond the Bubble | |
| Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It | 2015 | 60 | Short history of money, banking and debt | |
| Dirty Coin: The Bitcoin Mining Documentary | 2024 | 69 | Mining and energy; presents one side of the debate | |
| Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain | 2018 | 84 | Best single starting point: Bitcoin, Ethereum, real uses | |
| Crypto Rush | 2020 | 90 | Mining rigs and the people in the industry | |
| The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin | 2014 | 96 | Record of the early Bitcoin community |
Running times are approximate and come from listings that sometimes disagree; films without a stated running time are left out, and the table does not show where each film can be watched in your country.
Origins and the people who built it
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014)
Nicholas Mross directed this film. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 23 April 2014 and runs 96 minutes. It follows his brother, programmer Daniel Mross, as he meets people building Bitcoin at the time. They include Gavin Andresen, Erik Voorhees and Vitalik Buterin. It works best as a record of the 2013–2014 community, much of which no longer exists in that form.
Banking on Bitcoin (2016)
Christopher Cannucciari directed this film. Listings give 2016 or 2017 as the year and 83 to 90 minutes as the runtime. It traces Bitcoin from early development to its clash with regulators and banks. Gavin Andresen and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss appear.
The Bitcoin Gospel (VPRO Backlight)
Hans Busstra made this Dutch public-television documentary. It features Roger Ver in Tokyo, Financial Times journalist Izabella Kaminska and Marshall Long, CEO of the mining company Final Hash, with cameos by Max Keiser. Kaminska's "price over politics" view balances Ver's advocacy.
Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery (HBO, 2024)
Cullen Hoback directed this film, which came out on 8 October 2024. It covers Bitcoin's early years and the block size wars. Its conclusion suggests that developer Peter Todd may be Satoshi Nakamoto. Todd called the theory "ludicrous" on camera. After release he described the film's reasoning as "coincidence-based conspiracy thinking". Adam Back, who also features, denied being Satoshi. Watch it as an argument, not as proof.
Crime, fraud and collapse
Deep Web (2015)
Alex Winter directed this film and Keanu Reeves narrates. It premiered at SXSW on 15 March 2015 and aired on Epix on 31 May 2015. It covers the Silk Road market, Bitcoin, the politics of the dark web and the trial of Ross Ulbricht.
Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery (2021)
Sheona McDonald directed this film about Gerald Cotten, the CEO of a Canadian crypto exchange. Cotten travelled to India in late November 2018 and was reported dead about nine days later. Around $215 million in cash and crypto went missing, and the company had about 115,000 creditors, according to CBC. Interviewees include David Gerard and Amy Castor. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Program at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards. It shows why holding your own keys and knowing who controls the keys to your funds both matter.
Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King (Netflix, 2022)
Luke Sewell directed this film, released on 30 March 2022. It covers the same Cotten case and puts the losses at about $250 million, higher than the CBC figure. Dead Man's Switch is the more measured of the two. Trust No One is aimed more at true-crime fans.
Bitconned (Netflix, 2024)
Bryan Storkel directed this film, released on 1 January 2024, about the Centra Tech case. Co-founder Ray Trapani tells the story himself, alongside his family, his co-conspirators, a victim and investigators. Wikipedia says the founders raised more than $32 million in a "fraudulent initial coin offering". The German outlet BTC-Echo reports about $25 million. Of all the films here, it shows most clearly how a token sale with nothing behind it gets marketed.
Crypto Rush (2020)
Liliana Pertenava wrote and directed this 90-minute film. She bought a $2,000 mining rig in 2017, then travelled to meet people in the industry. They include Swiss Alpine miners using cheap hydroelectric power and David Carlson, a Seattle miner who built what was then the largest crypto farm and later went bankrupt. Reviews were mixed. Cointelegraph's reviewer said it tries to do too much.
Mining and energy
Dirty Coin: The Bitcoin Mining Documentary (2024)
Puerto Rican filmmaker Alana Mediavilla directed this 69-minute film, released by her company Campo Libre. It visits mining operations from rural Texas and Montana to Finland, Latin America and Malawi. It argues against the common view of Bitcoin mining's environmental impact. Senator Cynthia Lummis and Tone Vays are among those interviewed. Treat it as one side of the energy debate rather than a neutral survey.
