China is a Bitcoin powerhouse. An Article by Willie Tan in Cointelegraph recently concluded that 70 percent of Bitcoin mining is located in China. The Chinese have taken to Bitcoin like fish to water and there is no reason why they shouldn’t. China and Bitcoin are like a match made in heaven. Cheap computer hardware, ample hydroelectric power and cool environs all make China the right place for a Bitcoin mine to be located. Recently the 2017 Shape the Future Summit was held at the Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hotel between Sep. 20, 2017 and Sep. 21, 2017. The event had invitees from 80 enterprises in the Bitcoin industry but the main highlight of the event was the release of the first ever Bitcoin Documentary in China.
Shape the Future
2017 – Shape the Future is a documentary that charts the course of the world’s first digital currency, Bitcoin. The documentary produced by BitKan is supported by Bitmain, Huobi, Bixin and ViaBTC. It begins the story with how Bitcoin came into being and discusses the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto. Just who was this man? Was he even a man or was it a group of men?
Shape the Future takes a uniquely Chinese perspective on the creator and the creation of the digital asset. Still, the question of who is Satoshi Nakamoto will perhaps forever remain a mystery. The film does explore the various possibilities and comes up with the usual suspects including Craig Wright. Xiaoxiao Sun, Bixin Operations Manager alludes in the documentary that the decision of Wikileaks to accept Bitcoin was what prompted Satoshi to evaporate into thin air.
Perhaps the most interesting comment on Satoshi in the documentary comes from BTC123 Founder Bill Mo who says, “Only when he (Satoshi Nakamoto) erased himself can BTC achieve the full decentralization.”
Following the evolution of Bitcoin
The film takes a course that follows the evolution of Bitcoin from its nascent era into becoming a mainstream tradeable asset. The coming of the age of exchanges, where everyone could buy Bitcoin also brought with it the shady speculator, for who profit was the only motive and technology was something on the sidelines. Shape the Future tries to capture that spirit by presenting a real-life speculator who has chosen to keep his identity hidden.
The synthesized voice of the bearded, bespectacled man lends an aura of mystique as he says, “I earned my first barrel of gold by Bitcoins.” We are led through the frenzy of Spring 2014 when Mt.Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange of that time collapsed in Japan. It is not only trading they touch upon but also mining and how it evolved from being something that anyone could do at home with a single CPU to requiring complex and expensive mining farms.
Shape the Future strikes the right balance
Watching Shape the Future, it feels that the documentary has been able to strike the right balance. There is nothing that has been brushed under the carpet. Whether it is collapsing exchanges or the Silk Road fiasco or the people who lost money in virulent and volatile Bitcoin trading, everything has been put out for the viewers to think about and evaluate for themselves. The film captures the bleakness and the exuberance of the people of Bitcoin from users to CEOs in all sincerity. There are moments of joy and despair for everyone involved. Jihan Wu, CEO of Bitmain talking about the now missing Fried Co-founder of ASICMINER was particularly a touching part of the documentary.
The shape of our future
After going through the challenges facing Bitcoin with to scalability, etc. the documentary explores with a sense of optimism, where Bitcoin is headed in the future. Huobi Founder Leon Li thinks Bitcoin would be a global asset like gold. Others express their opinions about the fact that it would usher in true financial independence and that it cannot be suppressed. Edward Liu, founder of BitKan says that Bitcoin will give “whole human society an inspiration.”
Shape the Future is certainly an interesting watch to get an alternate perspective from the country that has most enthusiastically adopted Bitcoin. BitKan have certainly outdone themselves and if there is one thing that the crypto community needs to watch this fall, it is this documentary.
