The twin brothers who claim Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook are now Bitcoin billionaires.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss used the cash they won from a lawsuit against Facebook and invested it in the volatile cryptocurrency, grabbing an astonishing 1 percent of the currency’s 2013 dollar value. Four years later and the $11 million they invested is now worth more than $1 billion after Bitcoin exploded past $10,000 last week. One Bitcoin is now valued at $11,276, according to Coindesk.
The twins are believed to be the first investors to become billionaires off Bitcoin, though they’ve never sold a single unit. If you’re not familiar, Bitcoin is a decentralized form of digital money that isn’t regulated by any banks or government. It uses cryptography techniques to ensure secure transactions and control the creation of new units.
The pair made headlines in 2004 when they sued Facebook (and Mark Zuckerberg), alleging the CEO stole their idea to create the popular social media site, an event later dramatized in the film The Social Network. The twins initially won $65 million in 2008 before settling with $160 million in a 2010 lawsuit.
Bitcoin has turned many early investors into millionaires but the Winklevoss twins are among the few current investors with a 10-figure amount. The two believe the cryptocurrency has yet to reach its ceiling.
“If Bitcoin is a better gold or seen as a type of gold-like asset, then it could be in the trillions on a market cap,” Tyler Winklevoss told CNNMoney in 2015. “We do feel those are very real possibilities.”
H/T the Verge