Eight films that explain Bitcoin better than any price chart. Energy, money, civilization, miners, builders, and the early believers who saw it first./heading1. This Machine Greens (2021)The energy film. Directed by Jamie King (Steal This Film), presented by Swan Bitcoin, and the first documentary fully crowdfunded in bitcoin. It takes on the “Bitcoin is boiling the oceans” narrative and argues the opposite: mining can be a net positive for the environment, pulling renewable energy buildout forward. Features Lyn Alden, Nic Carter, Alex Gladstein, Meltem Demirors, Caitlin Long and Samson Mow.Where to watch: YouTube.
1. This Machine Greens (2021)
The energy film. Directed by Jamie King (Steal This Film), presented by Swan Bitcoin, and the first documentary fully crowdfunded in bitcoin. It takes on the “Bitcoin is boiling the oceans” narrative and argues the opposite: mining can be a net positive for the environment, pulling renewable energy buildout forward. Features Lyn Alden, Nic Carter, Alex Gladstein, Meltem Demirors, Caitlin Long and Samson Mow.
Where to watch: YouTube.
2. The Great Reset and the Rise of Bitcoin (2022)
The money film. Pierre Corbin’s 78-minute tour from the end of the gold standard, through money supply expansions of 40% in under two years, to Satoshi’s answer: money with rules nobody can change and a 21 million cap. Covers mining, scaling and the Lightning Network. 
Where to watch: YouTube, IndeeHub.
3. Bitcoin Is Generational Wealth (2021)
The philosophy film. A short by Matt Hornick and Tomer Strolight. Civilizations rise and fall, and so does their money. Bitcoin is “un-fall-able”: incorruptible, indestructible, infallible money that can carry value across generations.
Where to watch: YouTube.
4. Stranded: A Dirty Coin Short (2023)
The mining-on-the-ground film. Alana Mediavilla’s 17-minute short follows miners turning stranded electricity into bitcoin, financing grid infrastructure in places that never had it. The precursor to the Dirty Coin feature documentary.
Where to watch: IndeeHub.
5. My Trust in You Is Broken (2024)
The builder film. The BTCPay Server documentary tells how the project rose from the ashes of the Block Size Wars: developers refusing custodial payment processors and building open-source tools anyone can run. The closest thing Bitcoin has to an origin story for its payment infrastructure.
Where to watch: YouTube, torrent.
6. The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014)
The time capsule. Nicholas Mross’s 96-minute classic follows programmer Daniel Mross through the 2011-2013 era: basement miners, the first rallies, Mt. Gox, and the Winklevoss twins. Dated in the best way, it shows what it felt like to believe before anyone else did.
Where to watch: Rent on Apple TV or Amazon, free with ads on Tubi.
7. Banking on Bitcoin (2016)
The mainstream breakout. Christopher Cannucciari’s 90-minute tour of Bitcoin’s early years, with Andreas Antonopoulos, Charlie Shrem, Gavin Andresen and the pioneers who faced down regulators and banks. The easiest first watch for a curious newcomer.
Where to watch: Free with ads on YouTube, Tubi, Pluto TV and Plex.
8. God Bless Bitcoin (2024)
The moral case. Brian and Kelly Estes ask how to fix broken money, through conversations with Bitcoin thinkers and faith leaders on why the current system is unjust and what sound money changes. Free, dubbed in 7 languages with subtitles in 15-plus.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Show one of these to a nocoiner before you show them a price chart. For the full movie-night lineup, see our roundup of the best Bitcoin movies to watch.
