Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Bitcoin (BTC) bulls and founders of the Gemini crypto exchange, say that while Facebook’s secretive crypto project is positive for the industry, ultimately crypto will usher in something greater than the social networking era. The twins made their remarks during an interview with British broadsheet The Telegraph on March 17.
The Winklevoss twins have a famously antagonistic history with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, having sued him for allegedly stealing the idea for the social network from them during the trio’s student days at Harvard. The case was eventually settled, with the twins receiving $20 million and 1.2 million Facebook shares (worth over $199.2 million to press time).
Years after the Winklevoss twins’ first entry into Bitcoin, Zuckerberg is now seemingly entering the crypto space with Facebook’s own highly secretive project to integrate crypto stablecoin payments into an overarching messaging service for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram.
In their interview with The Telegraph, the twins apparently put past differences aside, with Cameron affirming that a Facebook stablecoin would be a “really positive” development for the crypto industry, echoed by Taylor’s comment that it is “cool” Zuckerberg is entering the market they have championed for so long.
Nonetheless, the twins said they ultimately believe that the innovation heralded by crypto represents a more momentous and disruptive development than social networking platforms.
Cameron remarked that “crypto is transferring value and putting markets on certain resources which is, like, greater, like, brings more people in, like, than, like, sharing photos right,” to which Tyler added:
“[It’s] powerful. People want to connect and stuff, but if you actually pay people and things in value that is almost, like, more significant.”
As Cointelegraph has reported, unconfirmed reports of Facebook’s plans to integrate a cryptocurrency for WhatsApp users first surfaced in December 2018, followed by further — yet still unconfirmed — details of the project this February.
The site is preceded by Russian-developed encrypted messaging app Telegram’s own, public plans, to create a crypto- and blockchain-powered messaging network.
The Winklevoss twins — whose numerous crypto investments span their crypto exchange and trading app, fiat-pegged stablecoin and sustained high-profile industry involvement — are meanwhile fielding a separate legal battle against Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, the result of a fallout over money owed from a years-old Bitcoin trade deal.
