Tag Archives: Winklevii
Winklevoss Twins File IPO to Bring Bitcoin to the Public
The Winklevoss twins, best known for suing Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea for Facebook, today filed an S-1 to create an exchange-traded fund for Bitcoin.
Tyler Winklevoss explained the motivation behind going public, “The trust brings bitcoin to Main Street and mainstream investors to bitcoin. It eliminates the friction of buying and reduces the risks associated with storing bitcoin while offering similar investment attributes to direct ownership.”
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have already made several headlines when it comes to Bitcoin. First, they claimed to own 1% of the outstanding bitcoins available. Later, they announced that they were investors in Bitcoin startup BitInstant. They operate an investment fund called Winklevoss Capital.
The filed S-1 outlines the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a vehicle that the public can invest in and simply reflects the value of Bitcoin.
The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the Blended Bitcoin Price of Bitcoins, less the expenses of the Trust’s operations. The Shares are designed for investors seeking a cost-effective and convenient means to gain exposure to Bitcoins with minimal credit risk.
The Bitcoin Network is a recent technological innovation, and the Bitcoins that are created, transferred, used and stored by entities and individuals have certain features associated with several types of assets, most notably commodities and currencies. Apart from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Department of the Treasury (“FinCEN”), major US regulators such as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and SEC, have yet to make official pronouncements or adopt rules providing guidance with respect to the classification and treatment of Bitcoins and other Digital Math-Based Assets for purposes of commodities, tax and securities laws. The Sponsor believes that, on balance, the important features of Bitcoins and other Digital Math-Based Assets are those that are characteristics of commodities and therefore has referred to and discussed these assets as such. It is not known whether US or foreign regulators will share this view, adopt a single, different view or espouse a variety of differing views; this regulatory uncertainty creates risks for the Trust and its Shares. See “Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Trust and its Shares.”
The Sponsor believes the Trust to be the first exchange-traded product that seeks to track the price of a Digital Math-Based Asset such as Bitcoins (a “DMBA ETP”). Some of the distinguishing features of the Trust and its Shares include directly holding Bitcoins using the Trust’s proprietary Security System, storage of the Trust’s Bitcoins in various premises of the Trustee located in the United States, the experience of the Sponsor’s management team, the use of [TRUSTEE] as custodian, third-party vault inspection and the use of a security consultant to advise on upgrades to the Trust’s technology and custody procedures. See “Business of the Trust.”
Cameron Winklevoss is listed at the CEO, while Tyler is listed as the CFO of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust.
Winklevoss Twins Invest in Bitcoin Startup BitInstant
Winklevii Invest in BitInstant
“We’re definitely pretty fascinated by it. The classic issue with Bitcoin is that it’s very early days.” — Tyler Winklevoss
The WinkleVoss twins, the two Harvard graduates who sued Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook, have been getting into Bitcoins. First, it was learned that they own 1% of the Bitcoin economy, and today TechCrunch learned that the Winklevii have invested in BitInstant, a Bitcoin startup.
BitInstant, a New York City based startup that operates an online platform for buying and selling Bitcoins, has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Winklevoss Capital with the participation of other strategic investors including money services veteran David Azar. The investment was closed this past fall, but the Winklevosses are just now publicly announcing it in the lead-up to the Bitcoin Foundation’s 2013 Conference being held in Silicon Valley this weekend.
Via TechCrunch.
Winklevii Bitcoin: Twins Secretly Own 1% of the Bitcoin Economy
Winklevii Bitcoin: They Own A Huge Stake
Facebook’s arch enemies Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have revealed a big financial secret: they hold about 1% of the Bitcoin economy. That’s a big Winklevii Bitcoin position.
Fresh with their cash from the Facebook settlement (worth well over $200 million), the Winklevoss twins have bought up about $11 million worth of Bitcoins. That’s about 1% of all available Bitcoins.
In an interview with the New York Times, the Winklevii provided some insights on their investment:
“People say it’s a Ponzi scheme, it’s a bubble. People really don’t want to take it seriously. At some point that narrative will shift to ‘virtual currencies are here to stay.’ We’re in the early days.”
The Winklevosses say this week’s tumult is just growing pains for a digital currency that they believe will become a sort of gold for the technorati.
“We have elected to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error,” Tyler Winklevoss said.
The Winklevosses have paid in bitcoin for the services of a Ukrainian computer programmer who has worked on their Web site.
The brothers began dabbling in Bitcoin last summer when the dollar value of a single coin was still in the single digits. To keep their holdings secure from hackers, they have taken the complex codes that represent their holdings off networked computers and saved them on small flash drives, putting the drives, in turn, in safe deposit boxes at banks in three different cities.
It’s hard to verify how the Winklevoss holdings compare with other bitcoin players, given the anonymity of accounts, and the twins say they believe that some early users of the system probably have holdings that are at least as large.
