Think you’ve taken a bath in the Bitcoin’s recent plunge in value? Be glad you’re not Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
The twins, most famous for trying and failing to gain control of Facebook after alleging that it had been appropriated from them, have seen the value of their cryptocurrency holdings fall by $922 million in the past month.
With a wallet that holds an estimated 120,000 bitcoins, the Winklevosses were arguably more exposed than anyone to the severe market fluctuations the cryptocurrency has seen of late. But don’t shed too many tears for them. They’re still remarkably rich — and still bitcoin billionaires.
Four years ago, the two made an $11 million investment in bitcoin. To date, they have reportedly not sold a single one, sitting on them and watching them accrue value. It’s been a stunning thing to witness. When the Winklevosses used a portion of the $65 million they won in a lawsuit against Facebook (FB), the currency was trading at just $120. As of Thursday morning, bitcoin’s value was $11,854, according to CoinMarketCap. That puts the estimated value of their holdings at $1.4 billion.
The twins have bigger designs on Bitcoin than just collecting wealth in their holdings, though. Last year, they attempted to create an ETF for bitcoin, but fell short after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected the application, citing the possibility of fraud. Had they been successful, it would have opened the door to institutional investing in the currency.
