London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026

Winklevoss twins slam Facebook as their crypto business booms

Winklevoss twins slam Facebook as their crypto business booms

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss waged a famous legal battle against Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s beginnings. Now, they’re predicting the social network’s demise.

The Harvard-educated twins — who were portrayed by Armie Hammer as losers in the 2010 flick “The Social Network” — have since become billionaires thanks to their bold investments in Bitcoin and other controversial cryptocurrencies.

Emboldened by surging prices for digital money as big companies from Tesla to Goldman Sachs embrace it, the pair are now upping the ante, claiming that “centralized” social networks like Facebook aren’t long for this world.

“The idea of a centralized social network is just not going to exist five or 10 years in the future,” Tyler Winklevoss told Forbes in a Monday profile when asked about Facebook. “There’s a membrane or a chasm between the old world and this new crypto-native universe. And we’re the conduit helping people transcend the offline into the online.”

The 39-year-old twins known as the “Winklevii” have filled their portfolio with startups trying to decentralize services dominated by tech titans like Facebook, Microsoft and Google alongside a digital art platform that at the center of the recent NFT craze, according to Forbes.

The twins reportedly entered that universe nearly a decade ago after winning a $65 million settlement in their legal battle with Zuckerberg, whom they accused of stealing their idea for a social network.

They started buying bitcoin in 2012 after getting a tip from some “early adopters” on the Mediterranean party island of Ibiza, Forbes says. Now, Bitcoin and the so-called blockchain technology behind it power a business empire that gave them a combined net worth of more than $6 billion last month, the outlet reports.

One of their biggest successes is Nifty Gateway, which has helped fuel the explosion in the market for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, digital assets whose ownership is stored on a blockchain ledger.

The platform has seen an explosion of interests in its “drops” of NFTs from artists such as Beeple, who just sold a token at the Christie’s auction house for $69 million, according to Forbes.

“We’re doing $4 million in five minutes now” for releases that would have fetched $50,000 a year ago, Cameron Winklevoss told Forbes.

Nifty Gateway was bought in 2019 by Gemini, the Winklevii’s cryptocurrency exchange that shares its name with NASA’s second space mission. The twins are so dedicated to the space-exploration theme that they call Gemini’s employees “astronauts,” they told Forbes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Doctors Warn Expanded Pharmacy First Scheme Could Put Patients at Risk
British Airlines Cut Short-Haul Capacity as Jet Fuel Costs Rise
UK News Publishers Forecast 40% Search Traffic Drop as AI Overviews Expand
Axel Springer Wins Approval for £575 Million Daily Telegraph Acquisition
London Mayor Sadiq Khan Opposes Heathrow Third Runway Over Climate Targets
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Leaders Hold Summit Seeking Greater Autonomy
UK Energy Price Cap Set to Rise to £1,723 in October
UK Treasury Warns Middle East Conflict Is Threatening Economic Growth
Labour Moves to Retrospectively Cap Overseas Political Donations After Reform UK Funding Surge
HMRC Warns Nearly Seven Million Adults Are Unclear About State Pension Entitlements
UK Parliament Passes Sovereign Grant Reform Before Conference Recess
British Rail Passengers Gain Automatic Right to Switch Operators During Disruptions
Burnham Hosts Downing Street Business Summit as UK Fiscal Pressure Builds
Labour Government Moves to Challenge £72 Million in Reform UK Crypto Donations
UK Advertising Industry Warns Wider Junk Food Rules Could Put £1 Billion in Media Spending at Risk
Cornwall Opens Devolution Talks With UK Government Over Transport and Local Services
UK Parliament Considers Sovereign Grant Reform Setting Royal Funding at £99.9 Million
Trades Union Congress Calls for Income-Based Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Levy
UK Prime Minister Rejects Second Scottish Independence Referendum
House of Lords Begins Scrutiny of Bill to Lower UK Voting Age to 16
Anthropic Says Claude Was Exploited in Weapons-Related and State-Linked Cyber Activity
Institute of Directors Urges UK Government to Avoid Business Tax Increases in Autumn Budget
Rising Gilt Yields Cut UK Fiscal Headroom to About £13 Billion Ahead of Budget
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Services and Technology Activity Strengthen
UK Government Promises Clearer Student Loan Guidance After Repayment Backlash
Charities Warn Unpaid Carers May Die Before Receiving Government Compensation
Dover Unrest Prompts Review of UK Counter-Extremism Strategy
Celtic Summit Leaders Reassert Right to Pursue Independence From UK
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record Amid Severe Heatwaves
Harrods Faces Potential £150 Million Compensation Bill Over Al Fayed Abuse Claims
UK Parliament Opens Debate on Landmark Assisted Dying Legislation
Metropolitan Police Investigate Reform UK Over Alleged Foreign Electoral Donations
UK Economy Expands 0.4% in July as AI Investment Boosts Activity
Bank of England Signals Caution on Rates as Inflation Pressures Persist
Tesco Alerts Police After Scammers Use Its Branding in AI-Generated Fraud
Lindy Cameron Appointed First Female Permanent Under-Secretary at UK Foreign Office
UK Government to Rewrite Student Loan Guidance After Mis-Selling Criticism
Welsh First Minister Warns Andy Burnham Government to Respect Devolution
Trump’s Falkland Islands Remarks Trigger New Diplomatic Tension With Britain
Reform UK Receives Record £72 Million Donation From Cryptocurrency Billionaires
UK Bans Imports From Israeli West Bank Settlements and Sanctions Supporting Institutions
Bayeux Tapestry Draws Large Crowds at British Museum
Cuts to International Aid Raise Concerns Over Fragile Overseas Health Systems
UK Airlines and Logistics Operators Adjust Capacity as Fuel Costs Rise
UK Mortgage Arrears Edge Lower in Second Quarter
UK Government Advances New Devolution Offers for English Councils
UK Parliament Begins Debate on NHS Governance and Single Patient Record Reforms
Andy Burnham Launches Number 10 North Devolution Initiative
UK Parliament Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for Terminally Ill Adults
UK Bans Goods From Israeli Settlements in the Occupied West Bank
×