For the most part, Wall Street has been slow to accept bitcoin as a valid investment tool. This, in many ways, has helped retail players get ahead in the field of cryptocurrency, according to the Winklevoss Twins of “The Social Network” fame.
Winklevoss Twins Say Wall Street Has Been Too Slow
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, known primarily as the allegedly real creators of Facebook, have been two of the biggest bitcoin and crypto advocates the world has ever seen. The pair founded the Gemini Exchange in New York and were one of the first teams to acquire the infamous BitLicense, which is required if a crypto or blockchain company wants to operate or offer its services in the city that doesn’t sleep.
Now, both men have expressed interest in joining the board of Facebook’s Libra, a new digital currency that’s set for global standards. Libra was first announced earlier this year and has been met with mixed reactions. The currency’s creators – including David Marcus, formerly of PayPal – have been subjected to harsh scrutiny from U.S. regulators and lawmakers, who seek to understand what Libra is planning to do with the customer information it will gather.
Facebook was in major trouble in April of 2018 when its partnership with Cambridge Analytica was revealed. The social media platform had been selling customers’ private data to third parties for advertising purposes. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the company, was grilled by Senate members in what ultimately amounted to a fine of a few billion dollars initiated just a month ago.
Some believe that Facebook got away with a simple slap on the wrist, but Libra’s development has since been put on hold. While it’s unclear if Libra will ever get back on track, the currency is now in a period of stagnation, which is likely to last until the U.S. congress gets all the answers it’s looking for.
In the meantime, the Winklevoss Twins are commenting that retail players have made the 2019 bitcoin price what it is. While the currency ultimately collapsed at the end of 2018, bitcoin began jumping up again in April of this year after several new tech companies potentially began showing interest in crypto.
In an interview, Tyler and Cameron explain:
Unlike the internet, which you couldn’t buy a piece of, you can actually buy a piece of this new internet money. It’s still a retail-drive market from day one, and a lot of people have done well. Wall Street has been asleep at the wheel.
We Couldn’t Ignore It
Interestingly, the Twins ultimately saw themselves getting into crypto thanks to FOMO (fear of missing out). They saw bitcoin as the future of money, claiming:
We had to invest because we were afraid of missing out. We couldn’t miss out on the future.