Known for being business enablers, The Winklevoss Twins have now become products through their NFT Collection. The twins collectively own approximately 1% of all Bitcoin supply so the name ‘Crypto Legends’ for this NFT drop is 100% accurate. The NFT Collection celebrates their success as tech-preneurs and Bitcoin Billionaires.
The Winklevoss twins first became famous for disputing and losing ownership of Facebook against Mark Zuckerberg. Anyone who saw the movie, The Social Network, would assume that they are done for. However, The Winklevoss twins are currently living their tech happily-ever-after, sitting on top of a multi-billion dollar crypto and NFT empire.
The Winklevoss Twins as Crypto Legends
Crypto Legends is a three-card collection celebrating the twins and their role in advocating mass adoption of digital assets. Aside from popularizing Crypto, they also contributed in building a use case and utility for it.
This is the first fully authenticated NFT from the actual Winklevoss Twins themselves. The twins teamed up with Ethernity Chain to launch this NFT Collection. The partners are donating 90% of the profits from this auction to a non-profit organization advocating expansion and accessibility of rowing to New Yorkers.
The rise of the Winklevoss empire
The Winklevoss twins eventually reached a legal settlement with Facebook and Zuckerberg. For their trouble, they received $45 million in Facebook shares and $20 million in cash. Soon after, in 2012, Cameron and Tyler invested $ 10 million in Bitcoin for $8 a piece and the rest is history.
The Winklevoss twins went on to put up family office, Winklevoss Capital Management, to undertake venture investments. They also hit big with Block-Fi, the growing Bitcoin lending giant. The company just raised $ 350 million in investment and is now valued at more than $3 billion .
They hit a bit of a setback when their Brooklyn-based exchange, BitInstant, was closed down by the government. It was so bad that the CEO served a one year prison sentence. The platform allowed exchange of dollars for bitcoins in minutes for a fee. It was such a hit that it represented 30% of the total purchases of Bitcoin back in 2014.
The Winklevoss twins are also the proponents of Gemini, the world’s first licensed ETHER exchange which recorded $29 billion trading volume in the past year. In addition, they also have their own digital currency, the Gemini Dollar, which is a stable coin pegged to the value of the US dollar. In other words, it is similar to what Facebook intends to launch as Libra.
Turning things to gold
The Winklevoss twins are no stranger to NFTs. Back in 2019, way before the NFT boom, they acquired Nifty Gateway through Gemini. It is now the world’s most exclusive NFT platform. It is lauded for reaching $255 million in total sales and putting digital artists like Beeple and Grimes on the map.
Wondering what the twins are up to now? Well, they are getting ready to integrate Gemini and Nifty Gateway into a single product where the NFTs can be used as collateral for cryptocurrency loans. You can count on The Winklevoss twins to get the timing right!
All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFTevening.com are not recommendations.
This article is educational material.
As always, make your own research prior to making any kind of investment.
