Morgan Spurlock Inside Man: Inside BITCOINS

When it comes to the mainstream media’s coverage of bitcoin, it’s usually hard to find anything that correctly portrays the usefulness of the digital currency. Most people in the general public have only heard of the Mt. Gox collapse or Silk Road thanks to this sort of coverage, but CNN’s Inside Man was able to break that trend on Thursday night — at least for the first thirty or forty minutes. In this short documentary, host Morgan Spurlock was able to present a general overview of how bitcoin works and why so many people are excited about this new technology.
Any bitcoin enthusiast who watched last night’s episode of Inside Man was likely hooked from the start. Instead of opening with images of Silk Road with creepy background music, the episode opened with a quick explanation of money. Spurlock made it clear that someone has to look into the history of money if they want to understand the importance of bitcoin.
The fact that fiat money used to be backed by gold was mentioned, and there was even a quick reference to “corrupt” governments and financial institutions. This short introduction into why people are excited about bitcoin ended with Andreas Antonopoulos talking about hyperinflation in Argentina and the bail-in in Cyprus on a stage at the New York City Bitcoin Center.
It was at the NYC Bitcoin Center where Spurlock also received his first bitcoin for $630 via a Satoshi Square event. The Inside Man host was visibly excited when he realized that his purchase had a transaction fee of roughly “6/10ths of a cent.” It seemed that this was the point at which Spurlock started to “get it.”
Once he had his bitcoin, Spurlock decided to try it out as a currency by purchasing a margarita pizza at a local restaurant. The transaction went smoothly, and Spurlock noted that he felt like this was “the future.” After grabbing a slice of pizza, it was time to get some groceries. While checking out and paying with bitcoin for those groceries at a corner store, the man behind the counter told why he decided to accept bitcoin. He explained that it’s cheaper than credit cards and does not allow chargebacks to take place.
The fact that the money is received instantly was also pointed out, and the corner store owner went on to say, “Credit card fraud is so prevalent today, and as a small business owner you assume that risk. So, if there was another option where [payments were] cheaper [and] safer — bitcoin, at this point in time, is able to do that.” He also noted that he had accepted “close to a thousand” bitcoin payments at that point.
Once he had his bitcoin, Spurlock decided to try it out as a currency by purchasing a margarita pizza at a local restaurant. The transaction went smoothly, and Spurlock noted that he felt like this was “the future.” After grabbing a slice of pizza, it was time to get some groceries. While checking out and paying with bitcoin for those groceries at a corner store, the man behind the counter told why he decided to accept bitcoin. He explained that it’s cheaper than credit cards and does not allow chargebacks to take place.
The fact that the money is received instantly was also pointed out, and the corner store owner went on to say, “Credit card fraud is so prevalent today, and as a small business owner you assume that risk. So, if there was another option where [payments were] cheaper [and] safer — bitcoin, at this point in time, is able to do that.” He also noted that he had accepted “close to a thousand” bitcoin payments at that point.
In the second half of the episode, there were a few perceived issues with bitcoin that could have been explained better. First, there was a bar or restaurant that claimed to accept bitcoin, but the guy behind the counter said there was a $25 minimum when paying with the cryptocurrency. He claimed this had to do with the volatility of the digital currency’s exchange rate. This statement didn’t seem to make sense because services such as BitPay and Coinbase allow merchants to immediately convert their bitcoin to dollars. Also, a merchant who is afraid of bitcoin’s price volatility should probably be more interested in using it for smaller purchases.