Yahoo Sports Bitcoin-funded club wants to be bigger than Luton
The Bitcoin podcast owner of a non-league football club said they have had three years of being ridiculed, but "now we have had some success people are coming round to it".
Peter McCormack, who co-owns Real Bedford, said locally he wanted the club to be bigger than Kettering Town, then Northampton, then Milton Keynes, then Luton, "and ultimately to the Premier League".
McCormack, who hails from Bedford - about 50 miles (80km) north of London - said the proposed merger with Bedford Town FC was "about the coming together of two clubs to achieve something for the town".
He added that "when we started we had 40 fans and a tiny little stadium", but "ultimately I want the town of Bedford to win".
Bedford Town play in the Southern League Premier Division Central and are based at the Eyrie in Cardington.
Real Bedford are currently top of the division below, Southern League Division One Central, and play at the neighbouring McMullen Park.
In April 2024, Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss invested $4.5m in Bitcoin (about £3.6m) in McCormack's side and became co-owners.
McCormack said: "I think Wrexham's goal is the Premier League and they are up to League One now and they are backed by Ryan Reynolds and his wealth, but Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are worth twenty times his net wealth and there are two of them."
He said the "much stronger" merged entity would continue to use Bitcoin as a financial tool for the club.
McCormack said: "The short term goal was always football league for the men's side in ten years.
"If we go up this year that will be three promotions in three years, leaving us with three left to do in seven years and I think that is ambitious, but we think we can do that."
Regards the merger, he said Bedford Town was "waiting to hear back from the FA and the Southern League, do they approve it and where they will position the team in the pyramid".
If it gets approved, McCormack said they would use Bedford Town's ground that has a 3G pitch, which is "pretty cool" and "so we wouldn't lose games due to the weather".
Legal agreement for the merger has to be done by the end of March to be ready to merge by the end of the season, he said.
Bedford Town's director Jon Taylor previously said: "This proposed merger represents a unique opportunity to build on that legacy and take football in Bedford to the next level."
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