Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, better known as the Winklevoss Twins, are the first verified billionaire bitcoin holders.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, holds about five percent of the bitcoin’s total supply. However, it remains unclear whether the bitcoin Nakamoto had previously mined in 2009 is spendable and since then, for nearly eight years, Nakamoto’s bitcoin has not been moved or spent.
City AM, a UK-based publication, revealed that the Winklevoss Twins are estimated to hold 100,000 bitcoins, given their $11 million investment in 2013. At today’s price of $11,200, 100,000 bitcoins are worth $1.12 billion.
Winklevoss Twins’ Contribution to Bitcoin Market
For many years, Tyler Winklevoss emphasized his belief in bitcoin as a store of value. In an interview with the Telegraph, Tyler noted that bitcoin is a better version of gold, sharing the same sentiment as other investors and analysts in the space, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Like billionaire technology angel investor Tim Draper, the Winklevoss twins have allocated a significant portion of their resources and capital in providing a better infrastructure for the bitcoin market, specifically for investors in the traditional finance market.
One of the most successful projects of the Winklevoss Twins is Gemini, a leading and well-regulated US-based bitcoin exchange, which has served the US market with its sophisticated and professional trading platform.
Earlier this year, Gemini entered into a strategic partnership with the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the largest US options exchange with an annual trading volume of 1.27 billion contracts, to list bitcoin futures. CBOE revealed on December 4 that it has received the approval from the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and will enable bitcoin futures trading on December 10.
In August, Tyler Winklevoss stated that Gemini and his partners are focused on providing liquidity and a trading platform for institutional and retail investors.
“Gemini’s key concerns in the cryptocurrency ecosystem have always been security, compliance, and regulatory oversight. By working with the team at CBOE, we are helping to make bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies increasingly accessible to both retail and institutional investors,” said Tyler.
The listing of bitcoin futures by CBOE through Gemini’s bitcoin exchange will drastically increase bitcoin’s liquidity in the mid-term, as tens of billions of dollars in institutional money flow into the bitcoin market.
Large Bitcoin Holders are Big Believers
As bitcoin and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos said Coinscrum, a conference hosted by the prestigious research institution Imperial College in London, investors are encouraged to invest an amount of bitcoin that is proportional to their understanding of bitcoin.
“What percentage of your wealth should be tied up in bitcoin? A percentage that is equivalent to your understanding of how the technology works and your ability to absorb the risks it entails, which for most people is a small percentage,” said Antonopoulos.
In 2013, the Winklevoss Twins invested $11 million in bitcoin, which was then an immature market, because of their belief in that bitcoin could compete with traditional assets like gold and reserve currencies in the long-term.