Net Net: Promoting innovation and managing change
Net Net: Promoting innovation and managing change

Bitcoin 'the Internet of money': Winklevoss twins

Getty Images

Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins best known for their role in the early days of Facebook, believe the online currency bitcoin is "digital gold."

The twins continue to pitch bitcoin as another Internet-based idea they believe could change global payments forever.

The brothers, who together run technology-focused venture capital firm Winklevoss Capital, described bitcoin at the Value Investing Congress on Tuesday as a revolutionary new form of digital money that would do everything from bypassing central bank monetary policy to helping curb inflation in Zimbabwe.

Backing Bitcoin
VIDEO1:4701:47
Backing Bitcoin

(Read more: Bitcoin ETF plan hits the 'Winkle wrinkle')

Bitcoins, which trade at about $140 to one today, use an open-source code, making the currency transparent and impossible to trade based on inside information.

"With Bitcoin, no one has a monopoly of information," Tyler Winklevoss said.

Among many attributes, bitcoins allow for users to bypass legacy banking systems, transferring value instantly and at virtually no cost. They called bitcoin "the Internet of money," making access to currency universal and free.

(Read more: Virtual robbery: Bitcoin theft on the rise)

The twins offered no specific investment ideas, but made it clear they believed in the power of bitcoin as the ultimate currency. For example, they compared it to gold as an alternative store of value, noting bitcoin's relative portability and exchangeability. It's like "gold 2.0," they said.

The brothers said bitcoin regulation was likely in the next six to 12 months, a natural step in the currency's maturation.

The Winklevosses are also attempting to ease access to bitcoin by launching an exchange-traded fund focused on the currency.

—By CNBC's Lawrence Delevingne. Follow him on Twitter @ldelevingne.