The volatility of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin was fully realized in February 2014 when the Japanese Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, completely shut down and filed for bankruptcy. Mt. Gox announced that they had lost 850,000 Bitcoins, which at the time translated to $450 million. One Bitcoin was worth $853 at the beginning of February 2014 and dropped to $360 by April 2014, no doubt partially due to the Mt. Gox incident. This sudden collapse of the Bitcoin market brought up questions on the legitimacy of digital currency as a viable and practical option for the future.
While researching this situation I came across a Reddit conversation where people were telling their stories of how much money they lost through the Mt. Gox crash. Many were very serious and depressing and others were almost humorous in the way they angrily lashed out. I took a sample of these conversations and made them into subtitles for 1930’s Great Depression films such as The Grapes of Wrath and It’s a Wonderful Life. The result is a layered narrative that flattens and juxtaposes two time periods into an understanding of what it means to struggle with financial collapse.
The Wrath of Bitcoin from Kyle Green on Vimeo.
