McAfee’s Seal of Approval for ICOs: $100,000 per Promotional Tweet
In the world of initial coin offerings, the fear of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the beginning of wisdom. Cybersecurity guru turned cryptocurrency evangelist; John McAfee has disclosed the exact amount he earns for promoting ICO tokens, in a bid to avoid getting into the SEC ‘hot water.’
The McAfee Effect
While many in the ‘cryptosphere’ have criticized bitcoin exchanges for charging ICO projects over $50,000 to get their tokens listed on exchanges, Internet security pioneer, John McAfee has revealed he collects up to $105,000 for each of his promotional ICO tweets.
Use what you have to get what you want, some say, and McAfee has perfectly mastered the art of turning his influence in the tech ecosystem into real money.
The crypto and tech heavyweight in conjunction with his team has created an organization known as McAfee Crypto Team, a group that focuses on promoting ICO projects. “It’s self-aggrandizing and ego-stroking for us. However, if you’re planning an ICO, trying to boost a coin, or want to shine a light on your latest project, you should overlook our swollen ego and see,” McAfee declared.
A fee of $105,000 per tweet is definitely an outrageous amount, but if we consider the market moving effects of these tweets, then you might say it’s worth it after all.
Market Moving Tweets
Back in January, Motherboard researched to find out if McAfee’s tweets were indeed market movers. The research produced a clear result showing how the tweets have sent prices of the promoted tokens to the moon over time. “On December 21, McAfee promoted a coin called Electroneum, and its price immediately spiked 57 percent, from $0.07 to $0.11,” an excerpt from the research finding read.
McAfee has 812,000 Twitter followers, and most of them are crypto enthusiasts. This unique factor makes his crypto tweets quite potent.
“We can provide promotions through tweets alone – which are proven to be highly effective – or through tweets that are coordinated with our professional writing and blogging division. We turn down over 90 percent of all companies wanting to buy our services,” the McAfee Crypto Team boasts.
SEC Trouble
The SEC has since made it clear that celebrities who fail to disclose the details of their ICO promotional activities may be prosecuted. McAfee has hinted that he’s only revealing the amount he earns from his ICO promotions to avoid getting the SEC subpoena.
“I’m the only person in the crypto field that has openly divulged the outrageous amounts of money charged by crypto promoters,” he said, adding that, “It’s embarrassingly huge, but it’s true. I have been getting these fees for over six months. I decided to go public with it because I am an advisor to many of these companies and I know that I’m in the cross-hairs of the SEC, so it is in my interests to prove transparency.”
In recent times, quite a good number of celebrities have found ICO endorsement an exciting venture. McAfee has advised other ICO promoters to be as transparent as possible to avoid the SEC crackdown.”Others who are still keeping their financial arrangements private are going to be in for a huge awakening when they receive their SEC subpoena,” McAfee said.
Leaving America
Although the security guru failed to reveal the total amount he’s amassed from his ICO promotions, he took to Twitter to show the luxury mansion he and his team will be moving to Dominica.
“We closed on our retirement property near the island of Dominica. We’re moving there for good in one week with our staff. But nothing will change. It’s the Internet age, plus you will see me at every important conference,” McAfee tweeted.
The author believes McAfee’s move away from the harsh crypto environment of the United States to a more friendly island of Dominica is in a bid to entirely escape the SEC hammer and have the much-needed peace of mind to formulate many more market moving tweets.
