The SEC just dashed the Winkelvoss twins' bitcoin dreams

The Winklevoss twins lost out on Facebook, and now they've lost out on bitcoin.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied an application from brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — depicted by Armie Hammer in The Social Network — to create an exchange-traded fund for bitcoin.

An ETF would track the price of bitcoin and make investing in the cryptocurrency more attractive to Wall Street. For weeks ahead of the SEC decision, the price of bitcoin soared on the expectation that major Wall Street interest could be ahead. At one point, one bitcoin was worth more than an ounce of gold.

But the SEC dashed those hopes on Friday with one decision. The commission took issue with the way bitcoin trading is regulated, and said it didn't meet their standards for the type of fund the twins were after.

Both brothers have bet big on bitcoin. They created the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, and they first applied for approval of a similar product to what was rejected this week four years ago.

“We remain optimistic and committed to bringing COIN to market, and look forward to continuing to work with the SEC staff,” Tyler Winklevoss told the Wall Street Journal. “We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through.”

On Friday morning, bitcoin was valued at $1,287.60, according to CoinDesk. After the SEC decision, the price dropped to $1,056. On Saturday afternoon, it was back up to $1,181.

Better luck next time, Winklevii.