The Winklevoss twins just invested $4.5 million worth of bitcoin in a tiny British soccer club

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the billionaire twins known for their legal battles with Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook, are back in the spotlight. This time, they’re making waves with a new investment in a small British soccer club.

On Friday, the twins, who also co-founded cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, announced they had invested $4.5 million worth of bitcoin into Real Bedford Football Club (RBFC). This move effectively makes RBFC the “first football club powered by bitcoin,” according to their statement.

RBFC, a non-league semi-professional club from Bedford, England, was bought in 2022 by Peter McCormack, a Bitcoin investor and podcaster. The Winklevoss twins will now join McCormack as co-owners of RBFC, alongside the lifelong Bedford resident.

Cameron Winklevoss explained their decision, saying there was a shared vision and early adoption of Bitcoin among them. He emphasized the challenges of being early in the cryptocurrency space, highlighting the need for vision, conviction, and persistence.

“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.”

McCormack revealed that he chose the Winklevoss twins as partners because he wanted help in investing in infrastructure to expand the club. Part of the investment will go towards building a new training center, expected to cost around £1.6 million ($2 million). Interestingly, McCormack plans to keep the bitcoin as a reserve fund, opting instead to secure traditional funding for the construction project.

The Winklevoss twins’ investment in RBFC adds them to the list of American celebrities investing in lesser-known UK soccer clubs. Actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds made headlines in 2021 when they bought Wrexham AFC, a Welsh club.

The twins’ involvement in RBFC is another chapter in their entrepreneurial journey. Since co-founding Gemini in 2015, they’ve played a significant role in shaping the cryptocurrency exchange landscape in the United States. Gemini aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, offering users a platform to trade, store, and earn various digital assets.

As the Winklevoss twins venture into the world of soccer club ownership, their investment underscores the growing intersection between cryptocurrency and mainstream industries, paving the way for further financial integration.

The two brothers co-founded Gemini in 2015 to build a bridge to the future of money. Its goal is to build a world-class digital asset exchange and custodian based in the United States. Gemini dubs itself a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange and a platform for buying, selling, storing, and earning cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ether, and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) tokens. Gemini also allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets.