Forget Facebook; Winklevoss Twins Enjoy Status of Being First Bitcoin Billionaires
Bitcoin’s record highs have pushed the Winklevoss twins’ wealth so high that they are now being called the first Bitcoin billionaires.
Back in 2013, the Winklevoss twins revealed they had taken a chance on the fledgling Bitcoin crypto by taking an $11 million stake in it. After Sunday’s surge in Bitcoin’s price, the pair have become the first Bitcoin billionaires.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss had famously become known for their legal squabble with Mark Zuckerberg over who founded Facebook. Now, they enjoy more fame and wealth thanks to Bitcoin’s meteoric rise in price.
Referring to the twins as the Winklevii, the New York Times in 2013, reported that the pair had amassed what appeared at that time to be one of the single largest portfolios of bitcoins.
On Sunday, Bitcoin rose to an all-time high above $11,826.
Going all in
The brothers have several pans in the fire when it comes to Bitcoin. In addition to their Bitcoin buys, they founded Gemini in 2015. This is a digital asset exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as Bitcoin.
As part of its Bitcoin futures contracts, the Chicago Board of Exchange entered into an exclusive global license agreement to use Gemini's Bitcoin market data for Bitcoin derivatives and indices.
The Cboe announced today that it plans to offer trading in Bitcoin futures beginning at 5 p.m. central time on Sunday, Dec. 10. Monday, Dec. 11, will be the first full day of trading. Transactions can be conducted for free for the rest of December.
Then there are the efforts the twins are making to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Plans for the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF call for the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust to hold only bitcoins as an asset, and for those bitcoins to be in the custody of, and secured by, the trust’s custodian, which is Gemini.
In the spring of this year, the twins initially received disappointing news about these efforts. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected their application.
In initially rejecting the application, the SEC stated:
“First, the exchange must have surveillance-sharing agreements with significant markets for trading the underlying commodity or derivatives on that commodity. And second, those markets must be regulated.”
The SEC later said that it would review that rejection. No decision has been announced.
Observers note that in light of the moves to launch Bitcoin futures contracts, the SEC may be more favorable to the launch of a Bitcoin ETF.
By Tedra DeSue
Source :https://cryptovest.com/news/forget-facebook-winklevoss-twins-enjoy-status-of-being-first-bitcoin-billionaires/