The twin brothers who sued Mark Zuckerberg after claiming he stole their idea for Facebook are opening an exchange for buying and selling bitcoins in the UK.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, made famous by the Hollywood film The Social Network, which chronicled Mr Zuckerberg’s rise to power, became bitcoin entrepreneurs after winning a $65m (£44m) settlement from Facebook.

Having first heard about the digital currency while holidaying in Ibiza in 2012, the pair, formerly Olympic rowers, launched their online marketplace Gemini in New York last year, allowing traders to buy and sell bitcoin for dollars.

On Tuesday, they will open the exchange to UK residents, letting them swap bitcoins for ethereum, a nascent digital currency. The brothers plan to extend the platform to allow trading in dollars and pounds in the coming months.