Former Libertarian Party presidential contender and renaissance man John McAfee has been charged with felonies for allegedly participating in cryptocurrency scams.
McAfee has been hit with money-laundering and fraud charges for allegedly participating in two cryptocurrency scams. The Department of Justice is looking to make an example of McAfee, who has promoted cryptocurrency relentlessly as a means to fight back against state power.
The feds claim that McAfee ran a pump-and-dump scheme by pushing alternative cryptocurrency on his large Twitter account. McAfee’s prosecution could open the door for federal authorities criminalizing the promotion of cryptocurrency on social media.
McAfee is currently detained in Spain on tax evasion charges. Additionally, McAfee’s bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., has been arrested and charged with participating in the alleged scheme as well.
“As alleged, McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in a statement.
Watson’s attorney, Arnold Spencer, maintains his client’s innocence.
“Jimmy Watson is a decorated veteran and former Navy Seal. He fought for other people’s rights and liberties, and he is entitled to and looks forward to his day in court to exercise some of those very rights,” Spencer said.
The men are also facing charges for allegedly concealing $23.1 million from earnings accumulated by promoting coins. McAfee touted alternative cryptocurrency such as Dogecoin, Reddcoin and Verge as part of his “Coin of the Day” or “Coin of the Week” series on Twitter from approximately December 2017 through February 2018.
While it remains to be seen if McAfee and his associates committed any disreputable actions by promoting cryptocurrency, these federal charges could serve as a chilling mechanism against individuals promoting cryptocurrency on social media.
Liberty Conservative News has reported on the emerging viability of Bitcoin as central banks print money and political elites grow increasingly reviled:
“Some experts believe that Bitcoin could go from $10,000 to $100,000 in five years.
In a Bloomberg Intelligence report, senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone argues that Bitcoin has a bullish future in the short-term.
As of October 24, 2020, Bitcoin was trading at $13,149.42.
“Bitcoin could continue doing what it has for most of its nascent existence, appreciating in price on the back of increasing adoption, but at a slower pace as we see it. The first-born crypto has had a tendency to add zeros to its price from around $10 in 2011. It took about four years to go from $1,000 to $10,000 in 2017, so doubling that time frame for maturation could get the price toward $100,000 in about five more years,” observed Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.
McGlone argued that the main catalyst of the recent surge in Bitcoin price was increased adoption.
“Bitcoin is unique in that supply cannot be influenced by price, leaving adoption as a primary valuation metric,” McGlone remarked in his Bloomberg Intelligence update. “Since initially reaching $10,000 in 2017, the benchmark crypto corrected about 70% and remains in an extended period of consolidation around that level. When Bitcoin first traded at $1,000 in 2013, it corrected about 80% and consolidated. About four years after initially reaching $1,000, it added a zero … Bitcoin has a history of adding zeros.”
The cryptocurrency’s gradually growing market cap is expected to boost adoption, thus leading to higher prices.”
