The Winklevoss twins are not the first to imagine that Bitcoin is an idea so revolutionary it deserves the moniker Web 3.0. But when Tyler and Cameron muse on the virtual currency it means something more: victory.
The story of how Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard contemporary, emerged as king of Web 2.0 – to the brothers’ fury – was told in the 2010 movie, The Social Network, which dramatised their legal claim that Mr Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them.
Perhaps only a move into the third internet era, confining Mr Zuckerberg’s victory to the past, will help them put their grievance behind them. This week, the brothers launched the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust – an exchange-traded product that is sponsored by their company, Math-Based Asset Services. In the event that it is approved by regulators and accepted by an exchange, it will invest directly in Bitcoins, tracking their dollar price.