theBITmovie Holiday Tour Focuses on Bitcoin’s Impact—Now and In the Future

theBITmovie’s Scott Glass & Lee Poichuk are on a mission: to explore the everyday experiences and potential of Bitcoin on their 30-day, 40-city tour across North America.

“How does Bitcoin impact your life now, and how can it change how you consume and engage in transactions in the future?”

theBITmovie documentary filmmakers and Bitcoin early adopters Scott Glass and Lee Poichuk are on a mission: to explore the everyday experiences and potential of Bitcoin on their 30-day, 40-city tour across North America during the holiday season. According to Wikipedia, Bitcoin is an online payment system where payments work peer-to-peer without a central repository or single administrator. It is often described by the media as cryptocurrency or digital currency.

In addition to documenting their own use of Bitcoin while visiting nearly every major U.S. and Canadian metropolitan area, Glass and Poichuk will also interview Bitcoin consumers, merchants, entrepreneurs, technology innovators, legislators, investors and others in search of an answer to their central question: “How does Bitcoin impact your life now, and how can it change how you consume and engage in transactions in the future?” As part of the tour running through December 21, Glass and Poichuk will also participate in charitable activities using Bitcoin.

With regard to his motivation for the project, Glass said, “We’ve come on this journey to not only promote Bitcoin, but to also gain a true sense of where things are really at. In our experience, Bitcoin use is still in its very early stages. We want to educate viewers as we educate ourselves by becoming completely immersed in the world of Bitcoin.”

While the initial goal was to show what Bitcoin currently means to users’ everyday transactions, Glass said that as their journey has progressed it’s become just as significant to explore the currency’s future.

“Through our own trip experiences and interviews, we’re finding that Bitcoin has a huge potential to make an impact on how we as humans interact economically. Whether it’s earning, spending or even donating money, we want to illuminate how revolutionary a currency like Bitcoin can be.”

Glass and Poichuk are making Bitcoin-funded donations to charities in the local areas they are visiting. In Boston they volunteered for a Thanksgiving lunch event at The Women’s Lunch Place, a welcoming day community for women who are experiencing homelessness or poverty. At the event, they also donated $500 in CVS gift cards bought on Gyft.com using Bitcoin. In other cities, the team plans to continue its philanthropic work, including contributing to local charitable organizations through Bitcoin. Additionally, the team will also educate and give guidance to local organizations’ administrators to help set them up to accept Bitcoin for donations.

The filmmakers' journey started in Toronto, Canada, on November 22 and includes stops in the following metro areas: Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Pensacola, Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit to name a few.

To follow the team’s journey, viewers can subscribe to theBITmovie YouTube video diary updates, or follow the project’s social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About theBITmovie

Filmmakers Scott Glass and Lee Poichuk are currently conducting a 30-day, 40-city tour across North America to explore the viability and day-to-day consumer use of Bitcoin. Their experiences and discoveries will be reflected in the documentary, theBITmovie (watch announcement video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLsoQq5bUFg). The project’s goal is to educate consumers on the reality of using Bitcoin, which has received both positive and negative attention in the media.

According to Glass, “We’re still very early in the Bitcoin game. This is an exciting technology and people shouldn't be intimidated by it. You don’t need to be super technical to start transacting in Bitcoin. The Bitcoin community at this stage is very welcoming and there are resources to help people understand it.”

In addition to producing theBITmovie, Glass is founder of IHM Media Group, a multi-national media organization historically focused on Electronic Dance Music media. Co-producer Poichuk graduated Toronto Film School in 2013 and his film work includes projects ranging from action shorts and talk shows to corporate projects.