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Interviewing the Winklevoss twins presents a unique problem: In retrospect, it can be extremely difficult to work out who said what.
In person, the 6-foot-5, 33-year-old, Olympic-rowers-turned-technology-entrepreneurs are just about distinguishable. But when speaking over a crackling, transatlantic Skype line, they are nearly impossible to tell apart.
The twins are gearing up for the launch of their latest project, a super-secure Bitcoin exchange called "Gemini," which they announced at the end of January. Created in 2008 by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency that does away with central banks in favour of user-to-user transactions. Tyler and Cameron became involved in the sphere since first learning about it in 2012 (while partying in Ibiza, they say); they claim to own at least 1% of all Bitcoin in existence, and they have also invested heavily in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Bitcoin is like a "child taking its first steps," Tyler says, and the arrival of "mature financial tools" won't "happen overnight." But Gemini is intended to be one of the first of these.
Gemini will be a fully regulated exchange through which ordinary members of the public — and institutions — can feel confident enough to buy and sell the digital currency without fear. Right now the world of Bitcoin is like the Wild West — exchanges come and go, often disappearing with everyone's money inside them. Gemini will be the antidote to that, the twins hope. They are touting it as the "Nasdaq of Bitcoin."
They believe the digital currency — and institutions like Gemini — will one day dominate global finance.
It's an ambitious project, and it comes amid serious teething trouble for Bitcoin.
In person, the 6-foot-5, 33-year-old, Olympic-rowers-turned-technology-entrepreneurs are just about distinguishable. But when speaking over a crackling, transatlantic Skype line, they are nearly impossible to tell apart.
The twins are gearing up for the launch of their latest project, a super-secure Bitcoin exchange called "Gemini," which they announced at the end of January. Created in 2008 by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency that does away with central banks in favour of user-to-user transactions. Tyler and Cameron became involved in the sphere since first learning about it in 2012 (while partying in Ibiza, they say); they claim to own at least 1% of all Bitcoin in existence, and they have also invested heavily in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Bitcoin is like a "child taking its first steps," Tyler says, and the arrival of "mature financial tools" won't "happen overnight." But Gemini is intended to be one of the first of these.
Gemini will be a fully regulated exchange through which ordinary members of the public — and institutions — can feel confident enough to buy and sell the digital currency without fear. Right now the world of Bitcoin is like the Wild West — exchanges come and go, often disappearing with everyone's money inside them. Gemini will be the antidote to that, the twins hope. They are touting it as the "Nasdaq of Bitcoin."
They believe the digital currency — and institutions like Gemini — will one day dominate global finance.
It's an ambitious project, and it comes amid serious teething trouble for Bitcoin.