EXCLUSIVE: Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures has teamed with the Winklevoss Twins to produce a feature film adaptation of Bitcoin Billionaires, the bestselling non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich. Silverman and Jon Berg will produce with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The Twins began their journey with Mezrich on his bestseller The Accidental Billionaires, the basis for the Oscar-winning film The Social Network, which told the story of the Winklevoss Twins’ legal battles with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Bitcoin Billionaires was Mezrich’s follow-up, and that tale chronicles the brothers as they do the impossible: catch lightning in a bottle a second time and mount the greatest comeback in the history of business through Bitcoin currency.
After struggling to be accepted as venture capitalists in Silicon Valley after their battle with Zuckerberg, they discovered the seductive and dangerous world of Bitcoin in Ibiza. The movie will tell the story of how the brothers risked everything and eventually became the world’s first Bitcoin billionaires. The book has been translated into 12 languages.
Said Silverman: “I have known Cameron and Tyler for years. Last summer my son, Caleb, was fortunate enough to intern at Winklevoss Capital and the twins shared an early copy of Bitcoin Billionaires with him. Caleb and I traded the book back and forth on a summer trip, devouring it in a couple of days. Upon finishing it, it was clear to both of us that Cameron and Tyler’s remarkable redemption story, coupled with Ben’s masterful writing, would lend itself to a one of a kind movie. We are very grateful at Stampede that we were able to convince them to turn their story into a film and produce it with us. This is Rocky II meets Wall Street in a world filled with unique and mesmerizing characters. This is going to make an incredible film.“
Said the brothers: “Ben is no stranger to writing about technology revolutions. His book Accidental Billionaires, which was later made into the movie The Social Network, chronicled the early days of social-networking, when many still dismissed it as just a fad. Ben immediately understood the promise of cryptocurrency and was serious about telling its story to the world. Whether you are a longtime HODLer or have just arrived, we think you will enjoy the colorful, frontier days of the cryptocurrency revolution that Ben Mezrich has deftly captured in Bitcoin Billionaires. We look forward to sharing this story and bringing the early days of this revolution to theaters in partnership with Stampede Ventures.”
Mezrich also wrote Bringing Down The House, which was turned into the hit movie 21, and of his 20 books, half of them have been optioned by studios. Stampede — whose lead investor is former Facebook CFO and San Francisco 49ers co-owner Gideon Yu — has its feature debut with the Kelly Oxford-directed Pink Skies Ahead, starring Jessica Barden, Marcia Gay Harden, Michael McKean, Henry Winkler, Rosa Salazar, Odeya Rush, Lewis Pullman, Mary J. Blige, and Evan Ross.
