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is a crime-flavored twist on the Internet start-up show, in that it's set not in Silicon Valley but Miami (meaning less geeks in hoodies, more sex and sunlight), and it centers on the creation of GenCoin, a new virtual currency that's supposedly better than Bitcoin. Here's the sexy founder making the sexy pitch:Pretty amazing, when you think about it, that a relatively big budget series with some well-known actors is about virtual currency. (Martin Freeman from the UK version of The Office and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a star.) Anyway, she gets to differentiate GenCoin from Bitcoin around 1:10:
"Bitcoin... good idea. Its code is open source, a true democratization of money... which makes it susceptible to third party interference, and ultimately corruption. "
Which is all very true. (Witness Bitcoin getting
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.) Then again, all money is democratized and susceptible to interference and corruption. So if I was writing the script, I'd write a more effective Bitcoin diss, like:[To see links please register here]
"Bitcoin... interesting idea. Its code is open source... so only hardcore libertarian techies and criminals use it. Seriously, people,
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."
Then yet again, I'm not sure if this show can convince us that GenCoin could actually become more popular than Bitcoin as a currency. People excited by virtual currency keep forgetting that money only works as money when there's a pre-existing community with a shared social infrastructure containing a market to spend it in. That's why it's still the case that more people use Linden Dollars than Bitcoin. So if I was writing this show, I'd create a scenario where GenCoin spins out of a mobile phone-based MMO in a developing world which became so popular, people started using it as real life currency. (
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.) But let's see how the show deals with that particular plot hole (or doesn't).Please share this post:
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