Tag: john mcafee

Only in Crypto: John McAfee Admits "Copy-Pasting" PIVX Whitepaper, Wants to Sue them Nonetheless

John McAfee is an eccentric, bold personality well-known in the crypto-space for his absurd comments. The entrepreneur claims to know Satoshi Nakamoto, promised to eat his d*** on Twitter if Bitcoin didn’t reach $1 million among other grandiose claims. 

Now, the sensationalism is reaching another level. McAfee’s crypto project “Ghost” was found to have plagiarised its entire whitepaper from another crypto firm, but instead of being apologetic, the entrepreneur threatens to sue PIVX, the project in question, for causing reputational damage.

Stolen Verbatim

Via a tweetstorm on May 20, McAfee admitted Ghost’s whitepaper “copy-pasted” parts of the PIVX protocol. Both projects are anonymity-oriented and aim to create a private cryptocurrency rivaling the likes of Zcash and Monero. 

McAfee states PIVX is an open-source project, which allows anyone to lift parts of its protocol to create a native token/sidechain. Earlier this week, representatives from Ghost stated the project’s codebase is a “forked” version of PIVX, and claimed Ghost’s developers did “a lot of improvements” to what PIVX offered. 

For those out-of-the-loop, PIVX said on May 18 that Ghost plagiarized over 20 pages of its 26-page whitepaper, which while outdated, contained material that was “directly” lifted verbatim. 

PIVX later stated that anyone was free to use their product as long as “copyright credits are maintained in the code,” the whitepaper was restricted material and “fully copyrighted” as of 2018. 

But McAfee is having none of it, the British-born American entrepreneur tweeted:

He added the “lawsuit is coming for defamation,” indicating the government will now be involved after PIVX supposedly defamed McAfee on social media. 

“Claiming a product is an open-source while withholding the documentation is a fraud. Pure and simple. I will soon demonstrate that in the courts,” said McAfee.

No Legal Charges

PIVX representatives say the company is not a legal foundation or domiciled in any particular region, and no “single person” has ownership of the project or its development. 

A spokesperson stated to crypto publication Cointelegraph:

“It’s like John saying he’ll sue Bitcoin.”

Interestingly, John McAfee faces criminal charges in the U.S. for tax evasion schemes and other financial fraud, meaning a lawsuit may not take place and the tweets may be an empty threat. 

Meanwhile, PIVX noted in other tweets the paper that Ghost copied from is outdated, i.e. several mentioned solutions and algorithms are not private and may harm the development of Ghost. 

“…which is not only outdated but cryptographically flawed and can be exploited. There are also multiple technical errors and inaccuracies that should be addressed,” adds PIVX. 

The team concluded: “You are required to credit and attribute the sources as clearly stated under the MIT license. This is a common and ethical practice in the open-source community.”

Image via Gage Skidmore

McAfee Comes Clean on His Statement of Bitcoin, in Wake of His 'Dickening'

In recent news, John McAfee appeared to have retracted his previous statement regarding Bitcoin, now claiming he never believed that Bitcoin would hit $1 million dollar in pricing. 

McAfee Knows It All for Bitcoin

The founder of one of the world’s top cybersecurity companies, McAfee Associates, predicted confidently in June 2017 that crypto’s top digital asset, Bitcoin (BTC), would hit a $1 million dollar per Bitcoin pricing by the end of the year 2020. He backed his claim by pointing to BTC’s supply, which caps at $21 million tokens, as well as the logic behind supply and demand of the digital asset, in wake of 7 million Bitcoins currently being lost and making the crypto asset scarcer to get a hold of.

At the time, McAfee criticized crypto investors on their negativity regarding BTC, taking to his social media platform and tweeting: 

“Bitcoin is at the mid 10’s and people worry. LMFAO? Why do you pay attention to the weekly fluctuations? […] It’s rising drastically. I’m still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020.” 

At the time of recording, BTC had lost 9% that week and was trading a bit above $10,300 on the crypto market. 

On June 2017, McAfee also furthered his claims and publicly declared that he would “eat his own dick on national television” if Bitcoin did not hit $500,000.  

Will McAfee “Eat His Own Dick” in 2020? 

Currently, BTC is estimated to be priced at around $9,130 on the crypto market. The digital asset’s price must increase by more than 5,376% in order to meet McAfee’s prediction. 

When questioned about the $1 million dollar per BTC topic, McAfee was quick to point out that it was all a ruse and that his bet was not set to be for July 2020, but rather, for the end of the year- December 2020. He quoted a website that was dedicated to his bet, called Dickening.com, and proceeded to tweet that he never ever believed that BTC would hit $1 million dollar in pricing. He said,

“My Bitcoin bet date has always been Dec 31st 2020 (see link). When asked in July if I was going to eat my dick in three years I naturally said yes. Didn’t mean in July for f**** sake! Did I believe that number? Of course not! But I’ll still eat my dick. Just wait.” 

Rather, he reiterated that he just wanted to eat his dick on national television and that he stood by his bet, in that sense. McAfee stated that Bitcoin was also worthless and that he never believed in it: 

“Not going to get out of it. I never believed Bitcoin would hit $1 mil. It’s absurd. Ir’s an old, tired, worthless coin. I just wanted to eat my dick on TV. Wait for it.”

The founder of the Device-to-cloud cybersecurity company McAfee also allegedly claimed that his famous 2017-million-dollar Bitcoin price prediction was simply a ruse to gain new users. The eccentric crypto investor is known for his outrageous claims.  

Bitcoin investor and host of the Keiser Report Max Keiser was quick to call McAfee out on his bluff, stating sarcastically that John McAfee was currently busy honoring his bet – to bite off his dick. The famous host quipped at the McAfee CEO by tweeting that the latter must be in the hospital currently recovering from “biting off his dick,” since “Bitcoin wasn’t at $500, 000.” 

What’s in the Gift Box for Christmas? 

For McAfee to get away with this one, BTC price would have to gain at least 10,000% by the end of the year. 

Why Did John McAfee Abandon His Ghost Privacy Coin Project?

Crypto advocate and technology pioneer John McAfee recently announced on Twitter that he has abandoned his Ghost privacy coin project. Investors reacted to the announcement made by dumping their Ghost coins on exchanges, as the crypto price lost over 70% of its value shortly after. The tokens are now trading below $0.30 and have been on a downtrend after they hit an all-time high above $1.30. 

McAfee tweeted on Aug. 19: “I am abandoning the Ghost project.” He said that the management he entrusted with the development of the cryptocurrency had disappointed him.

Troubled Ghost Project

McAfee cited differences with the leadership team of the project as the reason for his withdrawal. He blamed the Ghost management team, and especially Josh Case, for being incapable of making the project a success, saying that without hesitation, the project will fail.

McAfee said that he decided to leave the project because Josh Case, his project partner, is busy with some other projects.

Josh Case was seen as the leading cause of the problem as he did not focus on the project as expected. Josh Case is accused of not keeping his promise to focus 100% on Ghost. He instead has been working on other projects like Ethershift.io and Clearpoll.

Josh Case is the owner of the Clearpoll token tracker and the founder of Ethershift.io (Ethereum ERC20 token exchange).

McAfee called the project “bullshit” and mentioned that he has no intention of supporting a project that is “on its way to demise.” He apologized to people who supported and invested in the Ghost.

These words sound extremely harsh, as it is only a few days before McAfee was making a declaration of love for the Ghost project. He revealed that he had worked his entire life to create the ecosystem, which was now coming to life around Ghost, including a cryptocurrency, an exchange, and a phone.

The popular, famous influencer says goodbye to the cryptocurrency project. He stated that the crypto project would be replaced by another service-connected to the Ghost cell phone data service.

He revealed that the phone data services would be launched on 30th September 2020 and would guarantee maximum privacy to users’ communications. Users will not be tracked as they will use eSim and will enjoy a fast, secure, and wide coverage connection in more than 35 nations across the globe.

McAfee’s announcement has surprised and left his supporters baffled. He has been told on Twitter that several fans have invested in Ghost as they were attracted by McAfee’s name.  

But now McAfee will focus on the phone service as the new heart of the Ghost ecosystem. People who dreamed of seeing a crypto coin with McAfee brand would have to wait much longer. The phone data service is now what remains, which is promising to change the world of telecommunications.

Who is John McAfee?

John McAfee is a cryptocurrency enthusiast, a presidential candidate, and the founder of McAfee anti-virus software. He announced and launched his Ghost coin project earlier this year, as a proof-of-stake (PoS) crypto asset supported by his decentralized exchange, McAfeeDex.

He said that the decentralized exchange would allow users to perform atomic swaps between the Ghost tokens and major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. He further claimed that the Ghost coins would be privacy-centric in nature and their transactions would be verified using zero-knowledge proofs on a blockchain without knowing who’s behind them. Users pay a small number of transaction fees to transfer their funds within 60 seconds.

It remains to see how the Ghost cryptocurrency project would proceed. A representative from the Ghost team stated a comment on its Telegram channel shortly after McAfee exited Twitter. The representative said that McAfee is not involved in any day-to-day operations of the Ghost, and he is not involved in any tech or building of the project.

The representative assured that the project’s future plans remain unaltered and said that McAfee’s name would be removed from the project.  

John McAfee Indicted for Tax Evasion and for Fraudulently Promoting ICOs Through Twitter

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging John McAfee with tax evasion and failure to file tax returns, according to an unsealed indictment that was revealed yesterday.

McAfee sued for financial fraud

John McAfee, the founder of the anti-virus software company, was seized and arrested in Spain. He was indicted for numerous counts of tax evasion and for purposely failing to file tax returns, following investigations that date back to earlier this year. Per the complaint, McAfee also leveraged his fame to generate income, by attracting investors for seven initial coin offerings he touted through Twitter. The report read:

“From at least November 2017 through February 2018, McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million U.S. Dollars in undisclosed compensation by recommending at least seven ‘initial coin offerings’ or ICOs to his Twitter followers.”

McAfee clashes with tax regulators

In addition to failing to declare income he earned through promoting cryptocurrency securities, the Department of Justice also accused McAfee of earning millions on the side through consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. Investigations by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that McAfee made over $23.1 million from recommending the cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter. Federal prosecutors alleged that they were all materially misleading.

McAfee failed to file the appropriate tax returns for these sources of revenue between 2014 and 2018. Rather, the generated income was laundered through other entities and nominees by the crypto millionaire to evade taxes. In addition, the suit alleges that McAfee hid other assets from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), notably a yacht, a vehicle, and property by declaring it under others’ names.

Currently, McAfee is pending extradition to the US, where he will be trialed for the crimes he has committed. If convicted for tax evasion, McAfee could potentially be facing up to five years in prison, for each count of tax evasion he is charged with. The crypto millionaire will also face supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

McAfee’s Bitcoin price predictions

McAfee has been known for previously making crazy price predictions on Bitcoin and for walking back on them. The ruse was used to attract new users and to draw public interest in Bitcoin, perhaps to pump its price. As the mainstream cryptocurrency is known for its scarcity, its value would surge with an increased demand, potentially benefitting Bitcoin whales.

John McAfee is Having a Fascinating Time in Spanish Prison Says it's "Not That Bad"

John McAfee is having a fascinating time in Spanish prison after being arrested for tax evasion and fraud. The English-American computer engineer compared prison to the Hilton, without the turn down service.

Crypto personality, former US presidential candidate, and anti-virus software developer John McAfee sent a message to his Twitter followers sharing his experience in the Spanish prison after his arrest.

According to the post tweeted by his wife, Janice McAfee, things are not bad in the prison. The 75-year-old Millionaire told his wife that Spanish prison life is a fascinating experience

McAfee wrote:

“Hello from prison my friends. I am having a fascinating time. Spanish prison is not that bad. We can wear whatever clothes we want. We can smoke and socialize. It’s like the Hilton without turn down service.”

Through his wife, John McAfee continued explaining how he has been adapting to prison life and reported that he has even made new friends. He stated:

“My cell mate is an ambassador’s drug dealer, I wish I would have known him before. The prison yard is full of murderers but mostly nice people. I spend most of my time with my back to the wall. I miss and love you all. I will update you more when I am able.”

However, this is not the first time when McAfee has spent time in jail. In July 2019, law enforcement officials in the Dominican Republican arrested him and his team after they were found having many large-caliber firearms and weapons without proper authorized documents.

John McAfee Charged With US Tax Evasion

On October 5, the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) charged John McAfee with failing to file tax returns and evading taxes for four years. He was arrested in Spain, and now awaiting his extradition to the United States.

The U.S Department of Justice claimed that McAfee made over $23.1 million in income through promoting cryptocurrencies, speaking engagements, consulting work, selling his life-story rights to documentaries, among other things. Despite making such a huge income, DOJ stated that McAfee failed not only to file tax returns but also to pay taxes between 2014 and 2018 and resorted to concealing assets in the names of others.

McAfee has taunted U.S authorities many times.  On June 14, he created Twitter posts while in Cuba promoting BeatzCoin (BTZC) whose current value is $0.0002, saying: “Yes SEC, I’m promoting. Fucking come and get me.” In January 2019, he tweeted that he hasn’t filed a tax return for eight years because taxation is illegal.

McAfee faces a maximum sentence of four years for failing to file his tax returns and a maximum sentence of five years for each of the five counts of tax evasion.

US Justice Department Charges John McAfee with Cryptocurrency Fraud

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The US Department of Justice has charged antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee with money laundering and fraud offences stemming from two crypto schemes. The Justice Department charged McAfee, 75, and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr,40, in a newly unsealed indictment in Manhattan federal court on Friday, February 5.

The prosecutors described Jimmy Gale Watson Jr as an executive adviser who served as the head of MacAfee’s cryptocurrency team.

Detectives arrested Watson in Texas on Thursday, February 4, and he would make an initial appearance on Friday next week before a federal magistrate judge in Dallas.

The authorities accused McAfee and Watson of exploiting McAfee’s large Twitter following to artificially inflate prices of cryptocurrencies through a pump and dump scheme and concealing payments that McAfee obtained from startup businesses to promote initial coin offerings. According to the US Department of Justice, McAfee and his cohorts made over $16.9 million by fooling investors zealous over the emerging crypto market.

However, lawyers representing McAfee and Watson could not be immediately identified.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed related civil charges regarding the alleged pump and dump scheme.

McAfee’s Arrest in Spain

McAfee is being detained in Spain following his arrest on tax evasion charges announced in October last year. Both McAfee and Watson face civil charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In October last year, the SEC accused McAfee of concealing over $23.1 million he made from promoting seven crypto offerings on Twitter. The authorities stated that McAfee touted altcoins including Dogecoin, Reddcoin, and Verge as part of a “Coin of the Week” or “Coin of the Day” tweet from around December 2017 through February 2018.

Authorities mentioned that McAfee held himself up as an expert on cryptocurrency and cybersecurity through his speeches, tweets, and his roles as a chief executive of a publicly-traded crypto firm. Authorities also accused McAfee of telling his followers that he had no stake in the altcoins, though he touted how such coins “will change the world.”

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John McAfee Found Dead in Prison After Spanish High Court Approves His Extradition to the US

Computer programming entrepreneur John McAfee has committed suicide in his Barcelona jail, just hours after a Spanish High Court approved his extradition to the United States.

The British-American McAfee antivirus inventor lived the latter part of his years due to evading American authorities for tax evasion. According to his lawyer, Javier Villalba, McAfee died after committing suicide as he could no longer handle his prison sentences.

Also renowned as the founder of the privacy coin, Ghost coin, McAfee was often involved in pump and dump schemes in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The 75-year old also had a brawl with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for earning about $13 million in the promotion of Dogecoin (DOGE) and Verge (XVG).

The death of McAfee shocked the entire crypto sector on Twitter. Some people believe him as a victim under the law. On the other hand, McAfee’s wife, Janice McAfee, memories him on Twitter of celebrating him on Father’s day, lamenting the ill-treatment he was receiving and the lack of chances to get a fair trial in the United States if extradited. 

While he was also being tried by the SEC, the extradition clause only factored in trials relating to tax evasions. McAfee had a chance to appeal the jurisdiction, and the entire extradition was expected to be approved by local lawmakers before it is finalised. However, Villalba said McAfee’s nine-month spell in prison had brought him despair, a condition he could no longer bear. The tax evasion charges are likely to be dropped now that McAfee is dead.

McAfee had a robust career with NASA, Xerox, and Lockheed Martin before developing the first commercial McAfee antivirus in 1987, later sold to Intel in 2011. While McAfee has no involvement with the company, the antivirus still bears McAfee’s name and is still widely used to date. 

Image source: BBC

John McAfee Could be Still Alive, Ex-Girlfriend's Assertion Discloses in Netflix Documentary

John McAfee, the controversial software engineer and crypto advocate, could still be alive, according to his ex-girlfriend.

“I don’t know if I should say, but two weeks ago, after his death, I got a call from Texas: ‘It’s me, John. I paid off people to pretend that I am dead, but I am not dead,'” Herrera claims in the Netflix documentary “Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee,” out Wednesday.

A new revelation is now being made as McAfee’s ex-girlfriend, Samantha Herrera, said with all certainty that the Anti-Virus pioneer faked his own death, is still alive, and currently lives in Texas.

Back in June 2021, the world got perplexed when it was revealed that John McAfee, the controversial software engineer, and crypto advocate, was found dead in a Spanish prison.

While it is unclear how real the revelations are considering the fact that Herrera had a motive as McAfee broke her heart when she refused to elope with him. According to Herrera’s reports, McAfee told her that there are just about three people in this world that know that he is alive.

McAfee’s death did not really bring up a lot of uproar at the time because the timing of the alleged suicide was just about a few weeks after the Spanish legal authorities approved the warrant to extradite him to the United States, where he was supposed to face tax evasion charges.

While the Netflix director Charlie Russell was also shocked to hear the news again. This revelation may serve as the key basis for a more targeted manhunt for McAfee.

John McAfee is an important tech figure in both the Web2.0 and Web3.0 worlds. Besides creating the popular McAfee computer Antivirus as well as the Ghostcoin crypto project. He lived a somewhat controversial life and is more often than not always up on the wall with respect to the market manipulations. Up until the time he was declared dead, McAfee was one of the vocal advocates for Bitcoin and decentralized token innovations.

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