Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption 2019
Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption 2019 - Paperback / English / Business is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock.
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The story begins at the conclusion of the Winklevoss' lawsuit with Mark Zuckerberg. Both parties agree to a settlement, the twins receiving $20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook stock. Neither is satisfied with the outcome.
The twins found Winklevoss Capital Management, with the goal of investing in startups. After promising meetings, they discover they are considered pariahs. Silicon Valley startups, fearing reprisals from Facebook, don't want to be associated with them.
In summer 2012, during a party in Ibiza, the twins are approached by David Azar, a friend of Charlie Shrem's, who tells them about a new method of online payment with better privacy and transaction speed: bitcoin.
After meeting Shrem in Brooklyn, the twins become the largest investors in his bitcoin exchange, BitInstant. They acquire over $2 million in bitcoin or roughly 1% of all bitcoins in existence. The twins become ambassadors for bitcoin, attempting to reverse stigma due to its association with Silk Road. This culminates in them delivering the keynote at the 2013 Bitcoin conference.
As CEO of BitInstant, Shrem becomes a crypto celebrity, travelling with the twins and giving presentations to potential investors and interviews to media. Shrem is torn between the influence of Roger Ver, another early investor in BitInstant with strong libertarian views, and the twins' insistence to adhere to government regulations. Shrem's work declines as he descends into partying and drugs and he is eventually arrested at JFK airport. The twins are subpoenaed by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to speak at a public hearing on the future of cryptocurrency.
Parts of the book center on isolated moments related to bitcoin, including describing the lengths the Winklevosses went to securing their bitcoins, described as a "reverse heist", and the 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis.