John McAfee Will No Longer Promote ICOs, Cites 'SEC Threats'
June 20 2018 - 6:46AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
Anti-virus pioneer and crypto evangelist John McAfee tweeted that he will no longer work with
initial coin offerings (ICOs) or promote them due to
“threats” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC
declined to comment on his statement.
In April, McAfee revealed that he charges
$105,000 per tweet to promote cryptocurrency projects and products.
McAfee claimed that if you divided the cost by his total number of
Twitter followers, the “cost per investor reached” is only $0.13,
to which he added, “This is orders of magnitude less than any other
approach.”
In January, Cointelegraph asked McAfee in an
interview whether anyone had tried to pay him for promoting a
project or product, and if so, which projects. McAfee replied:
“I would say definitely they tried to pay me. I'm not
going to talk about my personal finances where I make my money or
from who. I set up on stage as it’s my business and it should be
everybody's business. And actually, I think it's rude to even ask
such questions of people. No offense.”
When asked whether he felt responsible for the
pump-and-dump schemes that sometimes follow his endorsement, he
said, “Absolutely not.”
Last month, McAfee announced plans to release his
own “fiat” currency backed by cryptocurrency, which will be
redeemable for face time with him. He said that the McAfee
Promissory Note will be connected to a blockchain by tokens and can be redeemed for up to 100
minutes of personal time with him at a location anywhere in the
world.
The crypto advocate also hit headlines earlier this
month when he announced a 2020 presidential
bid as a way to serve the crypto community. McAfee then tweeted
about the run, noting that although he doesn’t think he actually
has a “chance of winning,” the bid will give him a platform to tell
the “truth.”
Last month, the SEC launched a fake ICO website to
increase awareness of the typical warning signs of scam ICOs and to
promote investor education. The website includes such details as a
misleading and blurry white paper, guaranteed returns claims,
celebrity endorsements, and a countdown clock that is “quickly
running out on the deal of a lifetime.”
In April, SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson criticized ICOs,
stating that the crypto space “has been full of troubling
developments that we’ve seen at the SEC, and especially the ICO
space.”
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