While not confirmed, it is likely the Winklevoss brothers will become bitcoin billionaires. That’s because they can cash in an $11 million bet they made on the digital currency when it was taking off. The brothers have not confirmed their booty, or indeed how many bitcoins they have. However, estimates put their stash at around 100,000 BTC. The math tells us that is worth more than a billion dollars. If the names sounds familiar, it’s because the brothers are well known in modern tech history. The both sued Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of the social network. In a 2004 legal case, they argued Zuckerberg had stolen ideas for his ConnectU idea and were ultimately awarded $55 million. The twins were portrayed by the actor Armie Hammer in the 2010 move, The Social Network. The pair launched this own bitcoin online exchange when the currency started to gain traction. However, according to Cameron Winklevoss in an interview two years ago, the twins have never sold their stash: “We’ve never sold a bitcoin, we’re in it for the long haul.” If that ethos has remained, the twins are now sitting on a bitcoin stash worth a billion dollars. Of course, it would also mean they will continue to sit on it and not cash it in.
Bitcoin Surge
Bitcoin is now more valuable than it has ever been, passing the $10,000 mark for the first time last week. Throughout this year, the currency has been exploding in value, moving from $1,000 at the start of 2017 to $10,000 today. Despite that 1000% increase, some experts believe the move to digital currency is not yet fully underway. Last week, a Bank of Japan executive argued cryptocurrencies are still too nascent to consider as potentially viable replacements for hard currency.
