Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss

Cameron Winklevoss, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur who, alongside his brother, Tyler, sued Facebook, claiming Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for the social networking site. In 2012, the Winklevii took the relative pittance Zuckerberg flicked at them to move away and stashed it in Bitcoin. Two Harvard- educated rowers, seeking fame and fortune in digital currencies — alongside nerds, crazies, bookmakers, and worse. Now Bitcoin is soaring to new highs and pulling in a rush of followers from mainstream finance and society. As Zuckerberg has become more controversial, the Winklevii have something to say about moving on from Facebook: good riddance.

“Bitcoin has surpassed Facebook $ FB in market cap,” twittered Cameron Winklevoss as Bitcoin soared over $40000 per coin, also $41000 and more, on Friday. Sure, the Winklevii still have plenty of catching up to undertake – Mark Zuckerberg is worth $94 billion – but the bravado isn’t exactly deceived. The recent swell in crypto means that Forbes estimates each of the Winklevii owns $1.4 billion in digital means, as of Monday morning, further than double what they were worth just a month agone.

The cofounders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which now does about $300 million a day in digital asset trades, were the first recognizable names to buy Bitcoin. By April 2013, the entrepreneurs, who first rose to fame for hiring Mark Zuckerberg to make a precursor to Facebook (and subsequently sued Facebook for stealing their idea), reportedly held $11 million worth of Bitcoin, then valued at about $120 per coin. Assuming they’ve held on to the ultimate of those coins and their Ether tokens, they’d each hold further than $1.4 billion in digital means.