Unbanked (2025) Documentary Review: A mostly biased look at the elusive world of cryptocurrency

The ever-so elusive and evasive world of cryptocurrency – in particular, the advent of Bitcoin and the boom and controversy that followed has been a fascinating thing to witness. On one hand, Bitcoin enthusiasts have been pumping and dumping the digital currency to such an extent that governments of numerous countries have had to step in, on the other hand, the world is still speculating if the currency is just a bubble that will burst soon. “Unbanked,” directed by David Kuhn and Lauren Sieckmann, is a somewhat detailed and easy-to-follow look at the world of cryptocurrency but the documentary has an often-biased and diverting narrative style that leaves a lot to be desired.

Focused directly on the Bitcoin revolution, the documentary begins with a sequential aim. Naming the new currency as something that could essentially make the playing ground equal for even the lower class of people. The camera lingers on a garbage collector and an avid Bitcoin user, and how the digital currency has shaped his daily life. The Harlem curb – which is the only one that shows up twice in this globe-topping account feels like the most personal for the filmmaker. In my opinion, the doc would have benefited greatly from a lateral, deeper, and more personal look at this aspect of the investigation into crypto.

Instead, the filmmakers opt for a narrative dissonance featuring multiple voices from around the world, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. The result is a film that does great service to being pro-Bitcoin but very little anti-Bitcoin. There are references to how the unregulated nature of the cryptocurrency has made it easy to use for criminals, and how veteran investors like Warren Buffett have been less averse to it, despite it being sold as a leading wealth-creator.

However, “Unbanked” is mostly busy boasting about the many ways the digital currency has freed the layman from any forms of literal dependency on their respective currencies. It moves continents and shows us the impact the ease of it all has had on people of all walks of life. However, it does feel strange that the doc, which talks about the mystery of Bitcoin’s release by the even more mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, never once addresses the Bitcoin subsidiaries in the indie circuit, like Ethereum, etc.

If you keep that aside, the doc will work for someone who has no idea about cryptocurrency and wishes to know why people have been talking about it for over a decade now. However, if you wish to see a documentation that offers an unbiased look that actually deals with the intricacies of the social, economic, and cultural impact of the phenomenon, you would be disappointed.