Video: The Bitcoin Story Isn't Easy To Tell

If you haven't yet heard, Vox launched its new Netflix docuseries last month. Seeking new distribution opportunities, the news site led by former Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein turned to the leading streaming platform to deliver a weekly series of explainers. Each episode runs for around 15 minutes and takes a quick dive into newsworthy topics, like gene editing, the racial wealth gap, monogamy or K-pop. The episodes blend voice-over narration, analysis from experts, archival footage and plenty of graphics and visual effects to bring you a fetching video, short enough to be watched during a lunch break or between metro stops.

One of the early episodes explores the cryptocurrency industry, in particular, Bitcoin and its blockchain technology. Titled — wait for it — "Cryptocurrency", the video deserves praise for taking the complex origins of cryptocurrency's technology and boiling them down into informative, yet easy to follow historical perspective. Unfortunately, it also falls into the common trap of oversimplification, repeating a common narrative that Bitcoin is a tool for criminals and a means for Bitcoin millionaires to lead a lavish life.

Thus, while the aim of the series is to help Netflix viewers understand and digest topics that otherwise they would neither have time to investigate nor piece together, "Explained" won't substitute for in-depth reading and reporting. The episode focused on cryptocurrency can serve as an illustration of why the series should be treated solely as a primer. And while there's nothing wrong about that — after all, not everyone wants to become a cryptocurrency know-it-all — it's important to keep in mind that there is a lot more to the topic of digital cash than Vox is telling us.