{"id":272755,"date":"2025-10-02T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/?p=272755"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:58:38","slug":"how-tyler-and-cameron-winklevoss-became-cryptos-first-billionaires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/news\/how-tyler-and-cameron-winklevoss-became-cryptos-first-billionaires\/","title":{"rendered":"How Tyler And Cameron Winklevoss Became Crypto’s First Billionaires"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Theo Wargo\/Getty Images For US Weekly)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, four years after Bitcoin (BTC) launched, skepticism surrounding the nascent digital asset was far from waning. Early price swings spurred think pieces describing a financial investment bubble or even fraud, and the world\u2019s first widely adopted cryptocurrency had little to no value as a currency that could be exchanged for goods or services. \u201cPeople say it\u2019s a Ponzi scheme, it\u2019s a bubble,\u201d Cameron Winklevoss told The New York Times<\/em> in a piece published that April. \u201cPeople really don\u2019t want to take it seriously. At some point, that narrative will shift to \u2018virtual currencies are here to stay.\u2019 We\u2019re in the early days.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameron and his 6-foot-5-inch twin sibling, Tyler, were then best widely known as the crew-rowing bros who\u2019d won a $65 million settlement in 2008 after a protracted legal battle with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, that recognition being largely due to the story\u2019s somewhat fictitious retelling in 2010\u2019s Oscar-winning film The Social Network<\/em>. At the time of the aforementioned article\u2019s publication, you could purchase one BTC for $115, and the Winklevosses held $11 million worth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been four years and it has yet to be discredited as a viable alternative to fiat currency,\u201d Tyler told The New York Times<\/em>. \u201cWe could be totally wrong, but we are curious to see this play out a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrong, they weren\u2019t. Dug in to the most bullish of positions\u2014Cameron reportedly told CNN Money<\/em> in 2015, \u201cWe\u2019ve never sold a Bitcoin, we\u2019re in it for the long haul\u201d\u2014that initial $11 million investment saw the media declare them \u201cBitcoin\u2019s first billionaires\u201d by 2017, at which point the value of the BTC had skyrocketed to nearly $11,827, well over a 9,000 percent increase from its 2013 price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the Winklevosses may have hit the jackpot, they clearly didn\u2019t see Bitcoin as a lucky speculative investment, but part of an emerging crypto market brimming with untapped potential. Very shortly after revealing the initial Bitcoin investment to The New York Times, the brothers publicly announced their intent to put not just money, but their time, effort, and reputation on the line in launching Gemini<\/a>, a new cryptocurrency exchange. Built from the ground up to comply with financial laws and regulations, Gemini stood out from other early crypto ventures that were known to operate in legal gray areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our early experiences with Bitcoin, we found how few people were building Bitcoin exchanges the right way,\u201d Tyler said in a 2016 interview with New York Business Journal<\/em>. \u201cThey really weren\u2019t taking the regulation seriously; they were taking it too much like how you would approach something when you\u2019re 18, full of the excitement of youth and throwing caution to the wind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were passive investors in a Bitcoin company whose CEO went to prison for laundering, which was a valuable lesson for us, because it showed us how to do this the right way,\u201d Tyler added, referencing BitInstant founder Charles Shrem IV, who has since been released. \u201cSince that experience, we\u2019ve taken considerable steps to ensure a higher standard of care. We\u2019ve created a great security system that essentially acts as a more effective form of insurance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gemini officially launched in October 2015 with a notable, consumer trust-building certification that very few crypto exchanges could claim: \u201cWe\u2019re licensed by the New York Department of Financial Services, which is the highest regulator in the land for both banks and insurance companies in New York,\u201d Tyler said in a statement. \u201cWe have bank exams every six to twelve months, which is a very rigorous process. We want to look and feel just like your other financial service companies, so we spent a lot of time ensuring that we do this the right way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following its launch, Gemini quickly moved to expand its offerings beyond Bitcoin. Most notably, it became the world\u2019s first licensed Ether exchange in May 2016. While also a decentralized digital currency, Ether and the Ethereum network on which it\u2019s used are more ambitious in scope than Bitcoin, which was conceived primarily as a currency to be used as a medium for the exchange of goods and services without the need for intermediaries like banks. Ether, in contrast, is the cryptocurrency (or \u201cgas\u201d) that fuels the Ethereum blockchain network, which is often described as a \u201cworld supercomputer\u201d that allows developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. From creating financial platforms for lending, borrowing, and trading to drafting insurance policies built on smart contracts that are automatically executed when conditions are met, Ethereum\u2019s applications as a blockchain-based network are almost endlessly vast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it evolved to offer more cryptocurrencies\u2014Gemini now allows its users to trade and buy over 70 \u201ccoins,\u201d or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether that are built on their own native blockchains\u2014the company has remained unwavering in its commitment to market integrity and security. In 2018, it began using Nasdaq\u2019s SMARTS Market Surveillance technology, a system widely used in traditional financial markets, to monitor all its transactions\u2014a fitting development, considering that Cameron had presciently said in a 2015 CNBC interview, \u201cThis is our effort to bring Bitcoin mainstream, to build it into a regulatory box. When we think of Gemini. com, it will be like a Nasdaq for Bitcoin.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(MARCO BELLO\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following years saw Gemini undergo a number of System and Organization Controls examinations\u2014independent audits that assess the operational effectiveness and security of businesses\u2014to overwhelmingly positive results. But, like so many ventures in the crypto space, Gemini\u2019s biggest challenge to date came about in part because of 2022\u2019s \u201ccrypto winter,\u201d a brutal cryptocurrency-wide downturn punctuated by the notorious collapse of the FTX crypto-trading exchange. A year earlier, Gemini and crypto lender Genesis Global Capital had partnered to launch Gemini Earn, a program that allowed users to earn interest on their crypto by lending it to Genesis. The controversy erupted in November 2022\u2014the same month in which FTX collapsed\u2014when Genesis unexpectedly halted customer withdrawals, citing \u201cunprecedented market turmoil.\u201d This freeze left over 200,000 Gemini Earn users unable to access approximately $900 million in digital assets\u2026and seriously pissed off the Winklevoss twins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having worked tirelessly to establish an iron-clad credibility with its user base, they fiercely advocated for Gemini users as the company engaged in legal battles with Genesis and its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). Cameron even went so far as to call out DCG CEO Barry Silbert via an open letter, writing, \u201cThere are over 340,000 Earn users that are waiting. It\u2019s important to them, and it\u2019s important to us. Every time we ask you for tangible engagement, you hide behind lawyers, investment bankers, and process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those relentless efforts paid off. By the end of June 2024, Gemini had returned 100 percent of digital assets that had been frozen as of November 2022, including all appreciation. \u201cIt\u2019s important to note that the Genesis bankruptcy was not a crypto problem,\u201d the Winklevosses said in a joint statement to Gemini users. \u201cIt was old-fashioned financial fraud compounded by a lack of regulatory clarity. To that end, we will continue to fight for clear rules and guidance for our industry that foster both innovation and consumer protection. And we will win this fight. The future is bright.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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