Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are hoping to make bitcoin mainstream by creating the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the United States.

The Winklevoss twins, who famously accused Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, have been seeking regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

The call their project the 'Nasdaq of Bitcoin'.

Twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, who famously accused Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, have been seeking regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

WHAT IS BITCOIN? Bitcoin is a digital currency that, unlike conventional money, is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. Bitcoin is not backed by a government or central bank and its value fluctuates according to demand by users. Users can transfer bitcoins to each other over the Internet and store the currency in digital 'wallets.' Advertisement

The investor twins have hired engineers from top hedge funds, enlisted a bank and engaged regulators with the aim of opening their exchange in the coming months.

'Today, my brother Tyler and I are proud to announce Gemini: a next generation bitcoin exchange,' Cameron Winkevoss wrote on their site.

''What exactly do we mean by 'next generation'? We mean a fully regulated, fully compliant, New York-based bitcoin exchange for both individuals and institutions alike. Why? Because it’s about time.'

The brothers, who received $65 million in Facebook shares and cash in 2008 after a battle with with its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will finance the exchange themselves.

'Since last February, Tyler and I have been assembling the Gemini team.

'Our goal was simple: bring together the nation’s top security experts, technologists, and financial engineers to build a world-class exchange from the ground up with a security-first mentality.

'It’s true that Bitcoin’s promise is a new, frictionless money, but that all becomes academic if we don’t build towards an ecosystem that is free of hacking, fraud and security breaches.'

Bitcoin is a digital currency that, unlike conventional money, is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control.

Bitcoin is not backed by a government or central bank and its value fluctuates according to demand by users.

Users can transfer bitcoins to each other over the Internet and store the currency in digital 'wallets.'

Last March, New York's financial services regulator Benjamin Lawsky said he wanted companies that want to operate virtual currency exchanges in the state to submit formal applications, in a step toward eventual state regulation of bitcoin exchanges.

The New York regulator held two days of hearings with industry participants last January, including the Winklevoss brothers, and said he planned to issue 'BitLicenses' to virtual currency firms.

The pair are also bidding to become the first twins in space together after signing on as the 700th and 701st passengers of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane.

Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss of USA in the Men's Pair during Day 1 of the 2011 Samsung World Rowing Cup III on Lucerne Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. The pair are also planning to go into space together with Virgin Galactic

True to their convictions, the twins have paid the fare in bitcoins.

'Cameron and I contemplate our tickets into space — as seed capital supporting a new technology that may forever change the way we travel,' Tyler wrote in a blog.

'Purchased with a new technology that may forever change the way we transact.'

Ashton Kutcher, Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Stephen Hawking have all booked passage on the rocket.