Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust (IPO) (Fka:COIN)

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Winklevoss twins pitch their bitcoin ETF to gold bugs

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (MarketWatch) — If you have gold in your portfolio, you should consider investing in bitcoin, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said Monday.

The twin brothers are working to launch an ETF that provides exposure to the volatile virtual currency.

“If you look at the GLD gold ETF, basically that’s our model,” Tyler Winklevoss said. The SPDR Gold Trust GLD, +0.27% is one of the world’s largest exchange-traded funds.

The twins went even further in praising bitcoin, saying it’s an improvement on gold. They said its advantages include being more durable and more portable, plus the brothers emphasized that a fixed supply of bitcoin is built into the rules for the digital currency.

The comments came as the Winklevoss twins headlined a session Monday at ETF.com’s Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Fla. The brothers, who are still best known for their legal fight with Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s FB, -0.92% origins, have turned into significant players in the world of bitcoin.

Tyler Winklevoss said a bitcoin ETF will let investors offload how they keep track of their bitcoin assets to professionals — just like how you wouldn’t keep gold at home.

The twins also argued that bitcoin’s checkered reputation is the result of a few bad actors. Tyler Winklevoss criticized media coverage, saying “don’t listen to the linkbait, flashy headlines” but instead really dig into what it is.

Bitcoin endured a rough 2014, when its price dropped by about two-thirds, according to a CoinDesk price index, which factors in data from several bitcoin exchanges.

Winklevoss twins pitch their bitcoin ETF to gold bugs