Winklevoss Twins Want You to Invest in Bitcoins

They ask SEC for permission to create fund for ordinary investors
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 2, 2013 12:50 PM CDT
Winklevoss Twins Want You to Invest in Bitcoins
Cameron, left, and Tyler Winklevoss in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

We already knew the Winklevoss twins were big believers—and big investors—in the virtual currency known as Bitcoin. Now the twins famous for their fight with Mark Zuckerberg over the origins of Facebook are upping the ante: They have filed papers with the SEC to create the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which would make it far easier for mainstream investors to invest in a currency dismissed by its worst critics as a Ponzi scheme, reports the New York Times. "It appears that this will operate like an exchange-traded fund (ETF), a security that basically trades like a stock," says Business Insider. No particular exchange is named in the $20 million IPO filing by twins Cameron and Tyler, notes the Wall Street Journal.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, the filing has no fewer than 18 pages of potential risks, reports CNN Money. Hackers, malware, and volatile price swings caused by speculators are among them. Also consider that governments around the world are just starting to figure out how to regulate such currencies, notes the LA Times. As the filing itself states, “It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use Bitcoins in one or more countries, and ownership of, holding or trading in [shares of the trust] may also be considered illegal and subject to sanction." (More Cameron Winklevoss stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X