Winklevoss twins, from losing Facebook fight to becoming Bitcoin billionaires

By Moris Beracha.- 

Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss became known in 2008 when they were in dispute with Mark Zuckerberg for the original idea of Facebook. After a lawsuit filed in a United States court, the twins with BA degrees in Harvard and Olympians reached a settlement agreement valued at about $ 62 million.

The Winklevoss twins, invested part of the money they won, about $ 11 million, into Bitcoins in 2013. By that year, the digital currency was trading at just $ 120 a coin. In 2017, the bitcoin exceeded its value at $ 15,000. The 11 million became a holding to be worth approximately $ 1,300 million in December last year, when the value per unit reached a price of $ 18,500.

Cameron and Tyler became the most prominent billionaires by amassing a bitcoin fortune. More than a few people in Silicon Valley saw that decision made by the Winklevoss in 2013 as naive. Some still consider it that way.

"We've turned that laughter and ridicule into oxygen," Tyler Winklevos said in an interview with The New York Times.

It is unclear how fleeting their vindication is, because the value of the currency fluctuates constantly. Today, the average price of each coin is $ 11,090, according to the cryptocurrency market, Coinbase.

While several anonymous "crypto-billionaires" are collecting their profits and buying luxury cars or sports equipment, the Winklevoss twins say they have no intention to diversify.

"We still think it is probably one of the best investments in the world and will be for the decades to come," said Tyler. "And if it’s not, we’d rather live with disappointment than regret," he said.