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Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the identical twins who claimed Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook, are the world’s first Bitcoin billionaires, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The pair, who sued Zuckerberg over Facebook in 2009, received a settlement of US$65 million and used some of that money ($14 million) to invest in Bitcoin in 2013. The brothers reportedly bought 1 per cent of all Bitcoin that was in circulation at the time.
“We see Bitcoin as potentially the greatest social network of all,” said Tyler in 2016.
The pair first learned of Bitcoin while on holiday in Ibiza in 2012, and in 2015 they launched a digital currency marketplace, known as Gemini, that allows investors to buy, sell and store Bitcoins.
“We wanted to build an exchange that was similar to Nasdaq or NYSE for digital currency,” Tyler Winklevoss said at the time.
“We wanted something that both Wall Street and Main Street felt comfortable with.”
The digital currency has increased in value by 10,000 per cent since the Cameron and Tyler made the investment, making the 36-year-old brothers billionaires.
