Bitcoin/USD could be worth $40,000: Cameron Winklevoss

The Winklevoss twin brothers, Cameron and Tyler, undoubtedly get more press-time these days as bitcoin enthusiasts than for their participation in the men’s pair rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. ‘The Winklevii’ are of course also notorious for their protracted lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg, for allegedly purloining their idea for Facebook.

The $65 million settlement emboldened the twins to venture out as internet entrepreneurs, becoming amongst other forays early adopters of the increasingly well-known bitcoin.

There’ve been unkind comparisons with the Hunt brothers who tried – and spectacularly failed – to corner the silver market in the late 1970s but the Winklevosses have fought hard to generate recognition for bitcoin and the crypto-currency’s acceptance in the mainstream financial world.

They also announced earlier this year plans to launch a publicly traded ETF, called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which awaits approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

And in a new endeavour to raise public awareness about bitcoin, Cameron Winklevoss has started a Q&A session on social news and entertainment website Reddit, where he reveals his take on bitcoin’s past, present and future.

Cameron W stresses in the Reddit chat that he has “yet to sell a single bitcoin” because he and his bro are in for the “long-haul”. Says the twin,

“The small bull case scenario for bitcoin is a 400 billion USD dollar market cap, so 40,000 USD a coin, but I believe it could be much larger.”

The avowed bitcoin enthusiast emphasises that some days he doesn’t even look at the price because he is holding on just like the Spartans. “I’m in this for the long haul”, he writes. “Spartans hold.” Returning to the 21st Century AD, he continues: “Volatility will decrease as bitcoin matures and [the] regulatory landscape becomes clearer.”

Although unsure about the US dollar’s long-term value, the Winklevoss brother says that the main reason for his enthusiasm for bitcoin is that the US Fed has quadrupled the US money supply, leaving the economy “in completely unchartered waters” and “[a]t some point the music has to stop”.

Winklevoss also uses the Reddit chat to put on the record that he doesn’t think one person could manipulate bitcoin’s price.

Back in April, the twins shared that they owned about one percent of all bitcoins then on issue, although their total holding has never been revealed due to the system’s anonymity. Whatever their exact stake, the brothers are likely part of the reputed ‘bitcoin cartel’ – some 47 individuals who own 28.9 percent of the roughly 12 million data strings ‘mined’ so far, according to a report by Business Insider on 3 December.

Some 880 people are thought to own a further 21.5 percent, meaning that fewer than 1,000 people in the world control half of the total bitcoins on issue. As some observers have warned, that kind of ownership structure, if true, is tailor-made for market rigging and price manipulation, with the balance of bitcoin owners little more than price-takers.

In Cameron Winklevoss’ view though,

“the Silk Road closure, and resulting price gains, demonstrate how the demand for BTC has little to do with illicit transactions”.

What’s more, he believes that the online criminal marketplace was holding the crypto-currency back “by disproportionately dominating its narrative in a negative way”.

The twin brother stresses that he sees bitcoin “more as an alternative to fiat currencies than a replacement”, a ‘’commodity money” in company with gold, silver and even cigarettes in prisons, as objects having value in themselves as well as utility as a medium of exchange. Though, being digital, you can’t smoke or wear bitcoins.

Cam also assures his followers that “I have not invested in any altcoins [other digital currencies] because I don’t believe that any of the ‘problems’ or issues that they address can’t be addressed by bitcoin itself”.