Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption

Bitcoin Billionaires tells the story of identical twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and their investment in cryptocurrency. The brothers, Harvard students and Olympic rowers, became known as characters in Ben Mezrich's earlier book The Accidental Billionaires, which documented Facebook's founding. After their legal battle with Facebook, the Winklevoss brothers struggled to launch a venture capital career, as investors were reluctant to work with them following their dispute with Mark Zuckerberg. While in Ibiza, they encountered someone who introduced them to cryptocurrency, then an obscure and sometimes sinister field. The brothers began investigating this emerging technology, uncertain whether it represented "the next big thing or total bulls—t." They decided to make a significant bet on the sector. The narrative follows their journey through the cryptocurrency world, from the Silk Road to interactions with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On November 26, 2017, the Winklevoss brothers became the first bitcoin billionaires. This book chronicles how they achieved that milestone.