This thread is about criticizing the science behind TV series (because people tend to believe what they're told and misinformation about Bitcoin in TV series can only make people's understanding of it fuzzy, to say the least).
Recently, most of the TV series I've watched, talked about Bitcoin one way or another (I knew before watching Startup and Mr. Robot that they would be partly about Bitcoin but not the others, so I was a bit surprised to see that they were talking about it).
I found that there were a few questionable affirmations regarding Bitcoin, as well as cryptos in general, in most of those series, and I'm rather displeased about it since chances are that people watching them will just take the bullshit information for granted, especially since it's usually already related to already well-spread misinformation regarding not only cryptocurrencies but also cryptography and hacking.
Not that these critics about the information given in said series is not linked to the series' overall quality. iZombie is actually one of my favourite series out there (together with Game of Thrones, that, strangely enough, doesn't talk about Bitcoin, and Breaking Bad, that would probably have, had it been directed starting from 2016).
Some of the mistakes occur recurringly in many series. To avoid repeating always the same stuff I made a category called "recurring misconceptions" at the end of this post. If you read: "
See recurring misconceptions n below", you are advised to jump to that section to have a look at the detailed debunking.
Almost Human (source:
azguard,
undetailed))
Somewhere, someone says that Bitcoin is untraceable.
The truth:
See recurring misconceptions 1 below.
The Blacklist (source : myself,
undetailed)
I've only watched season 1 and the beginning of season 2 before giving up but I remember Aram, the FBI's computer specialist, used Bitcoin as the last step when he's asked by Reddington to launder money for him.
The truth:
See recurring misconceptions 1 below.
In this case if the money was still clearly traceable back to Reddington before it was converted into bitcoins, it was still traceable back to him afterwards. Nothing changed "because it was converted into bitcoins".
iZombie (source: details given below)
(season 2, episode 5):
Agent Babineaux on the phone (25:28): "Ok, I understand that bitcoin is untraceable, but there must be... look, I know what untraceable means... Thanks anyway."
Agent Babineaux to the main character a little later (27:14): "It's a dead end. Whoever made that donation used Bitcoin. Untraceable apparently."
The truth:
See recurring misconceptions 1 below.
So, that particular transaction they're talking about might really be impossible to trace back to the person who made it. It's always a possibility. But that's the hard way of using Bitcoin, and definitely not the regular way, contrary to what was implicated in the series.
(Somewhere during season 2)
The antagonist says he now accepts Bitcoin for his illegal brain dealing business.
The truth: That's one of the many possible uses of Bitcoin, just as it's one of the many possible uses of cash. Just as cash, Bitcoin can, and is, actually used for perfectly legitimate transactions. It's also worth noting that given the trouble one has to go through in order to use Bitcoin with an acceptable degree of anonymity, cash is in fact more convenient for illegal businesses.
The Good Wife (thanks
MadGamer for bringing this one to my knowledge, all details are given below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fazu1rgr9k"Although bills can be lost, stolen or burnt, Bitcoin is here forever".
The truth: Bitcoins can be lost, stolen and burnt, too. If you don't want them to be stolen, hide them well, it should go without saying. If you don't want to lose them, remember where you hid them (that is, remember your passwords, seeds, etc, in most cases). "Burning" bitcoins is a figurative way to say "send them to an unspendable address", and well, if you don't want to do it, then don't do it.
http://watchseries.cr/series/the-good-wife/season/5/episode/20 (season 5, episode 20, I've only watched from 4:50 to 6:20, maybe there's more)
The truth: Bitcoin being traceable doesn't have anything to do with the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox. It was designed this way from the beginning. It doesn't even have anything to do with "law enforcement": anyone with an internet access can trace Bitcoin transactions.
Mr. Robot (source : myself,
undetailed)
This one was the most down to earth. If I remember well, the only thing that was said there about Bitcoin was by Philip Price, E-Corp's CEO, and it was basically that governments didn't have control over it and that if they didn't let him issue his own crypto, called Ecoin, they'd lose the war with Bitcoin because it was getting increasingly important and they wouldn't make it disappear just by closing their eyes on it. Philip Price also has a marketing strategy for Ecoin that consists in giving discounts (10% if I remember well) to whoever uses Ecoin for payment, in order to counter Bitcoin's spreading.
The truth: What the man said. There's nothing more to say here. Mr. Robot is usually rather down to earth regarding this sort of technical stuff, anyway.
Startup (source : myself,
undetailed)
Now there was a lot of bullshit in this one. Not only regarding Bitcoin and cryptos but also regarding computer stuff (cryptography itself, hacking, etc). I've forgotten most of it, but one thing comes back to mind when I think about it: there's this Taiwanese hacker, Daewon, who's considered the world's best hacker. He manages to hack the bank accounts where the fundings of Gencoin are stored, the coin promoted by the main character, Izzy Morales, which causes one of her friends and co-owners (Gencoin is a private, centralized coin) to get angry and say: "You told me your code was secure", to which Izzy replies "Well, not from Daewon".
The truth: It makes no sense to say that something is safe "but not from one hacker in particular". Such an affirmation not only makes her own fictional crypto, but also Bitcoin and all the other cryptos, look like some magical stuff that you can always hack with more powerful magic while the truth is that you are responsible for your own security. There's nothing such as "100% safety" in the first place (not even for the money you put in the bank or put under the mattress, if you're a bank-enthusiast or a mattress-enthusiast xD ).
Also, they're funding their coin like a company: the code is already there, written, but for some reason they're raising funds in order to publish it.
The truth: It doesn't make sense. If the code is already written you just have to release the coin and let the market do the rest.
Really, I'd have to watch it again and write down every piece of bullshit bit by bit, though.
Recurring misconceptions1) A lot of series like to insist on the commonly admited fact that Bitcoin is untraceable.
The truth: Bitcoin is not really untraceable. All the transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the Blockchain, and, through the use of various tools, it's actually pretty easy to trace back a transaction, as well as putting an ID on whoever made it. The network in itself doesn't provide you with anonymity but with pseudonymity. It's not completely impossible to use the network in a relatively anonymous way, to a certain extent, but it requires a lot of caution. Regular uses are actually perfectly transparent.
Any feedback? Want to add other series to the list/complete those already listed by giving more detail? The more detail you can give, the more the information can be considered reliable for other people. You're welcome to do so by leaving a message here. Anyone with sources to confirm the debunking is also welcome.
One thing you should know, though, is that this is a self-moderated topic. I will warmly welcome people who disagree with me (or think I'm wrong in this case, since I'm mostly talking about facts) but I won't tolerate paid signature one-line out-of-subject bullshit.
Changelog:
2016/11/25: Corrected a few details regarding Startup.
