Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss (L-R), co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini, on stage at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention in Miami, Florida.
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Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the billionaire twins known for suing Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea for Facebook, are investing millions of dollars into a small English soccer club.
The twins, who today run the crypto exchange Gemini, announced Friday that they’ve invested $4.5 million worth of bitcoin in Real Bedford Football Club (RBFC), making it the “first football club powered by bitcoin,” according to a statement Friday.
RBFC, a non-league, semiprofessional club from Bedford, England, was purchased in 2022 by bitcoin investor and podcaster Peter McCormack. The latest deal will see the Winklevoss twins serve as co-owners of RBFC, alongside McCormack, a lifelong Bedford resident.
“There was this value alignment with all of us being early bitcoiners,” Cameron Winklevoss told CNBC, explaining his decision to co-owned RBFC with McCormack. “Being early in bitcoin is the ultimate acid test. What it shows is you have to have vision, you have to have conviction, and must be persistent.”
“You have to hold it through the good times and the bad,” he added. “Any journey like this will be a bumpy road. There will be setbacks and hardship.”
Big plans
McCormack said he chose the Winklevoss twins as he wanted a partner, or partners, who could help him invest in infrastructure to scale the club. He plans to use part of the investment to secure funding to build a new training center, which he expects to cost around £1.6 million ($2 million).
He doesn’t plan to sell any of the bitcoin to do it, however. Rather, the bitcoin will serve as a “rainy day” fund.
“The smart move is to hold the bitcoin, borrow pounds to pay for it, and then the training center pays for itself over a seven year period because it’s also part of a club that brings money in,” McCormack said.
The Winklevoss twins aren’t the first American celebrities to have poured money into little-known U.K. soccer clubs. Actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds famously bought the small Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC for £2 million ($2.5 million) in February 2021.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the phrase “acid test.” It has since been updated.