Now known around the world as the cute and talented rowing twins, the Winklevoss twins’ biggest claim to fame thus far was perhaps the lawsuit filed against Facebook (News - Alert) founder Mark Zuckerberg, which claimed that the social media mega-site’s idea was actually conjured up by the twosome and was then unlawfully stolen by Facebook’s ultimate creator.
Receiving approximately $65 million in money and stock shares after the court found they were in fact the masterminds behind the platform, the Winklevoss duo is now changing gears a tad, entering the Bitcoin space in hopes of trampling Zuckerberg once and for all in terms of earned revenue.
Thought leading siblings Cameron and Tyler have created Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, created with the sole intention of mimicking an exchange-traded fund that will jump out of the gate with $20 million worth of shares, reports NBC News. The shares will ideally be bought by investors looking to embrace Bitcoins in a highly cost-effective manner with virtually no risk to their credit.
Image of Winklevoss Brothers via Mashable
So, what are Bitcoins exactly? According to industry experts, they are “a form of electronic money that is not managed by a single company or government.” Instead, they are controlled by software running a set of algorithms, acting similar to the manner in which a mock banking system determines when new money must be made. Making its initial debut back in 2009, the original idea behind the product was to create a type of electronic currency that was completely anonymous and highly secure.
Looked upon as the next-generation of money, it seems the Winklevoss twins may finally be onto something great. Currently, shares will only be able to be bought in groups of 50,000 or more for $100,000, so hopefully your piggy bank is stocked quite nicely.
While analysts are already predicting that this proposal, now sitting with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will enable any investor to trade Bitcoins, will likely fall short of expectations, sometimes taking a stab in the dark and going in a new direction can prove fruitful.
For now, we will have to wait and see the results. One thing is for certain though, Zuckerberg better steer clear of the pair for the long term.
Edited by Blaise McNamee
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