by Rushali 
The Crypto industry is again back in the news, this time for a good reason. The year 2020 has proved to be a great year for cryptocurrencies. And the start of this year is also has started with a bull run. Bitcoin has touched a new all-time high of over $61000. And unlike 2017’s bull run, this bull run is backed by many major firms, and also this bull run means that finally, the cryptocurrency industry is moving towards the mainstream world. With new all-time highs comes the season of billionaires. Many people have become a billionaire due to its bitcoin holdings. One of them is the Winklevoss twins.
The Winklevoss twins have again become a billionaire in the starting of this year. Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss are identical twins and popularly known as the Winklevoss twins. They are famous since they have sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea of ConnectU and founding Facebook that happened around a decade ago. Recently, they are again in the news because the bull run of cryptocurrencies has made them feature in the list of billionaires once again. Many people have heard about them but they don’t know much about them so through this article I will try to make you aware of these twin brothers.
Early life
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss was born on 21st August 1981. Their father was a professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania called Howard Winklevoss. The brothers went to Harvard University. And also they have represented the US Rowing Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the year 2002, they have started a Social networking site that connected students called HarvardConnect and later named it ConnectU. It became an instant hit as it was the first of its kind. It was all before the launch of Facebook. Then they both have offered their fellow student Mark Zuckerburg to work with them on ConnectU, but Mark has stolen the idea and started his own social networking site and the rest is history.
Also Read : Vitalik Buterin Net Worth
The lawsuit
The Winklevoss brothers have sued Mark Zuckerburg for stealing the idea of ConnectU in the year 2008. And that was the first time that the world has come to know about the Winklevoss brothers and also that the original idea of Facebook was theirs. The settlement was done for $65 million. That was received by the twins in $20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook stock. And after the listing of Facebook in the market, they have gained around 500%. According to the brothers, their Facebook stock is worth $500million and they still hold it.
Investment by Winklevoss
The twin brothers cannot invest the settlement money in Silicon Valley because they were banned by Mark. Start-ups didn’t let them invest in their companies because that will cut the chance of any kind of mergers with Facebook. Then the brothers heard about cryptocurrency and started researching that and in the year 2013, they invested around $11 million in bitcoins. They bought around 1% of the total bitcoin supply. After that, they have realized that bitcoin is the future of the financial world. In the year 2017, they have launched their own cryptocurrency exchange called Gemini Trust Co. The Winklevoss brothers have become billionaire first in the 2017 bull run of bitcoin but soon the market crashed. And then in the year 2020, they again entered the list of billionaires.
Today, the net worth of each Winklevoss brothers is around $1 billion.
Also Read : Justin Sun Net Worth
Crypto held by the Winklevoss brothers
Although they have become billionaires with their Bitcoin holding they have other cryptocurrencies as well. They are active cryptocurrency investors and reportedly they have invested their maximum wealth in cryptocurrencies only. Some of the cryptocurrencies held by them are:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin SV (BSV)
Ethereum (ETH)
ZCash (ZCH)
Litecoin (LTC)
Tezos (XTZ)
Gemini Dollar (GUSD)
Other Investments
The Winklevoss Twins have mostly invested in blockchain and non-blockchain companies through their investment wing called Winklevoss Capital. And the twins also have two unicorns under their belt plus more than 8 startups valued at $100 million or more. Some of the investment by them are,
Bitcoin (BTC)
Gemini Cryptocurrency Exchange
Earn.com
BlockFi a Cryptocurrency Lending platform
FlexPort a Freight delivery startup
AngelList an Online portal for Startups
These were some investments by the Winklevoss twins, they were considered the first person who has become billionaire due to their bitcoin holdings. And with the growing popularity of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, we can expect that the net worth of both the brothers will keep increasing day-by-day.
1 Comment