Several U.S. agencies are investigating allegations of fraud leveled by billionaire Cameron Winklevoss against Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its CEO Barry Silbert. Prosecutors in Brooklyn, FBI agents, and U.S. SEC staff sat in on an interview in recent months with Cameron, who co-founded crypto exchange Gemini with his twin Tyler. Since Genesis froze withdrawals last November, the Winklevoss twins and crypto baron Silbert have feuded, impacting Gemini, its major creditor.
The co-founders of Gemini in July filed a suit accusing Silbert and Genesis of misleading investors, and claims it used accounting tricks to try to cover up a hole in the parent company’s balance sheet. DCG had denied the allegations and in August urged a U.S. judge to dismiss the lawsuit. According to the Bloomberg report, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York inquired specifically about Silbert’s conduct. The SEC declined to comment, and DCG, Gemini, and other U.S. agencies didn’t immediately respond to Reuters requests.
The Winklevoss twins are Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who are American investors, entrepreneurs, and former Olympic rowers. They are best known for their legal dispute with Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook, which they claimed was based on their idea for a social network called HarvardConnection. They sued Zuckerberg and Facebook in 2004 and settled for $65 million in 2008. The Winklevoss twins also appeared in the 2010 film The Social Network, which dramatized their story.
In 2012, the Winklevoss twins were among the earliest Bitcoin investors, establishing their prominence in the crypto industry. They acquired approximately $11 million worth of Bitcoin at $120 per coin, consequently establishing themselves as one of the largest holders of the cryptocurrency. They founded Gemini, a regulated crypto exchange and custodian overseen by the New York State Department of Financial Services. In 2017, they became the first Bitcoin billionaires after the price of Bitcoin surged to over $10,000. They have since diversified their crypto portfolio to include other coins such as Ethereum, Zcash, and Filecoin.
The Winklevoss twins engage in various ventures, including Winklevoss Capital, an investment firm emphasizing tech and internet startups. They have invested in companies such as Airbnb, Flexport, Robinhood, and Spotify. Moreover, the Winklevoss twins endorse space exploration, contributing to the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit safeguarding Earth from asteroid impacts. Avid sports fans, they’ve taken part in events like Ironman and the Head of the Charles Regatta.
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