John McAfee has shared many details about his life in Spanish prison and chances of extradition to the U.S. He additionally claims to have regained control of his ghost cryptocurrency project.

Prison Life ‘Is an Adventure’

Former U.S. presidential candidate and antivirus software tycoon John McAfee is in Spanish prison awaiting his extradition trial after he was arrested in Spain.

McAfee has been tweeting regularly from prison. “You want to know what prison is like. It’s like a Motel 6 run by Hitler’s SS,” he tweeted, elaborating:

I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine … Prison is an adventure to say the least.

“Spanish prisons are like the Hilton hotel compared to the abject surreality and dehumanization of American prisons,” he described in another tweet. “In Spanish prisons, you are treated as a human being instead of a number. I am treated well.” Admitting that he is “surrounded by murderers, muggers, and thieves,” the antivirus software tycoon maintained that it is “Not as bad as our government of course. But still.”

McAfee Denies Charges Against Him

The former presidential candidate insists that the U.S. government is after him for speaking the truth, particularly against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). “I once publicly called the SEC a festering pustule on the face of America, and the IRS – a legalized criminal gang aspiring to be the equivalent of Hitler’s SS. These are the two agencies accusing me of hideous crimes. I can only assume that they took offense at my remarks.” Nonetheless, he affirmed: “I would not exchange my life in prison for a life of freedom in which I could not speak the truth.”

Regarding the $23 million dollar judgment against him, McAffee claimed: “It was a civil suit not a criminal issue. I never even responded to the suit. It was simply a default judgment.” He declared:

I am charged with tax fraud – which is lying on your tax return. I have filed no returns for many years and have made no secret of it. If I have said nothing how could I have lied. My real crime is speaking publicly about the insanity rampant within our system of government.

Responding to a question from the media about whether the U.S. justice system is just, he said: “If extradited, I face 35 years in prison for multiple counts of refusing to file tax returns. Had I chosen armed robbery, I would’ve received 5 years maximum. You tell me if it’s just.”

Furthermore, McAfee tweeted on Friday: “I’m in prison for refusing to file tax returns, while government bureaucrats use your taxes for private planes, lavish parties and all other benefits of their power.” Commenting on the upcoming U.S. presidential election, he said, “If you think this election, whatever its results, will change this system, you will be sadly disappointed.”

McAfee Still Pumping His Ghost Cryptocurrency

Although charged by the SEC for pumping tokens, McAfee is still pumping his ghost cryptocurrency. He confirmed from prison that Ghost is the only crypto project he is involved with at present. Recalling that he abandoned the project in August due to a fallout with the management, he clarified:

I have returned to controlling the Ghost development. My feud with management has ended. With the announcement that we will soon release a private stable coin, will mark a new era in transacting crypto business. Transaction fees will be shared amongst all Ghost holders.

“When our private stablecoin is released, it will revolutionize crypto transactions. I have capable managers and communicate frequently from prison,” he claimed. “My work with Ghost revolves entirely around our development of the world’s first private stablecoin. Version one will be a wrapped DAI. Later we will have a new stable, private blockchain. Holders of Ghost will share all transaction fee profits for the stablecoin.”

He also commented on Paypal’s announcement to begin supporting cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, on its platform. “Paypal’s acceptance of cryptocurrency signals, I believe, a new wave of cryptocurrency acceptance worldwide. Governments around the world will have to get used to cryptocurrencies.” He further tweeted: “Paypal to take crypto. The IRS must be pissing itself.”

What’s Next for McAfee

The U.S. government wants him extradited from Spain, which McAfee says he is 100% certain will not happen because the Spanish “courts will see the clear resentment of the American government toward my public condemnations of their increasing corruption. They also understand how simple it is for a corrupt system to manufacture evidence that can prove anything against anyone who is a public enemy. They will decline my extradition,” he wrote. As such, he said he will not need a lawyer in the U.S., emphasizing that “There is zero chance that Spain will extradite me.”

McAfee revealed that when he is released, he will do “The same as before,” which is to “continue speaking against the cancer that has invaded every organ of the U.S. government bureaucracy.” He added that he is not sorry for what he has done. “I have followed my heart and stood up for my beliefs. I will never regret that,” he said.

On the subject of him allegedly being wanted for murder in Belize, McAfee insisted:

This is false. I was not charged with murder nor was I a suspect. The Belizean authorities will confirm this. I was a person of interest like all of the murdered man’s neighbors. I chose not to be questioned. I was already at war with the Belizean government.

McAfee posted his prison address on Friday after he said many people have asked for it. “Letters only. No packages. No money, drugs or weapons please. Everything is opened,” he warned. Finally, the cybersecurity tycoon said he would not reveal where he had been hiding: “I will not say. I may need to hide again someday.”

What do you think about John McAfee’s story? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post John McAfee Pumps Crypto From Prison, Denies Tax Fraud and Murder Charges appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Source: Bitcoin.com
Original Post: John McAfee Pumps Crypto From Prison, Denies Tax Fraud and Murder Charges

A Chinese court has confirmed the sentencing of the masterminds behind the 7.7 billion yuan Chinese Ponzi scheme Wotoken, which had over 715,000 investors.

Wotoken Scammers Sentenced to Prison

The Intermediate People’s Court of Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, denied an appeal by four convicts involved in the billion-dollar Ponzi scheme Wotoken on Tuesday, several local media reported.

The court upheld the original sentences for Gao Yudong, Li Qibing, Wang Xiaoying, and Tian Bo who were dissatisfied with their original sentencing and filed an appeal. They believe they had minor roles in the scheme. The four were sentenced to prison for eight years and six months, seven years, seven years, and two years and six months respectively, IT Times reported. They were also fined two million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, and one million yuan respectively.

In addition, two other defendants were sentenced for their roles in the Wotoken scam. Li Guomin was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan while Tang Xiaohua was sentenced to six months imprisonment with one-year probation, the publication added. In May, 12 people allegedly behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme were tried, including the six defendants mentioned above.

Chinese law enforcement has seized 425 million yuan ($64 million) of illegal proceeds from the Wotoken scheme, which were turned over to the state treasury. The illegal proceeds belonging to the four who appealed will also be recovered and turned over to the state treasury, the publication conveyed.

The scheme involves a number of cryptocurrencies, collectively worth about 7.7 billion yuan ($1.15 billion), according to blockchain data. They included 46,050 BTC, 286 million USDT, 2 million ETH, 292,590 LTC, 56,900 BCH, and 6,841,797 EOS.

The Wotoken (WOR) platform attracted 715,249 registered users between July 2018 and October 2019. The scheme has 501 MLM layers.

At least one person behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme was also a key member of a larger Chinese Ponzi scheme called Plustoken, according to an investigative reporter. The Plustoken Ponzi swindled about $6 billion from more than 715,000 investors. Chinese police took down the scheme in July, arrested 109 people involved, and charged six members with fraud.

What do you think about the Wotoken Ponzi scheme? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post $1.1 Billion Crypto Ponzi: Masterminds of Wotoken Head to Prison in China appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Source: Bitcoin.com
Original Post: .1 Billion Crypto Ponzi: Masterminds of Wotoken Head to Prison in China

The acting director of the U.S. Office Comptroller of Currency (OCC) Brian Brooks says the creation of the U.S. digital dollar is a terrible one because the government is not good at building things. Instead, Brooks believes tech companies, which already possess the know-how, to be in a better position to issue stable digital currencies. He says the U.S. government needs to focus on doing what it does best-regulation.

Growing Stablecoin Supply

The acting comptroller of currency’s comments come as reports suggest the US is currently working on a digital dollar. However, the U.S. digital dollar can only be issued in four years’ time.

Speaking in an interview, Brooks, who uses analogies to support his stance on stablecoins, believes the United States can only flourish when the government allows the private sector to innovate. Expounding on this belief, Brooks says U.S. government regulatory agencies should instead be concerned with the protection of investors.

To support his theory, Brooks points to the phenomenal growth of stablecoins in the past few months. He says:

If you look at the growth of the major stablecoin, the USDT, you see it has been doubling in market capitalisation every 60 days for the past four, five to six months. This kind of growth is astounding.

Therefore, instead of competing with private innovators, Brooks advises the US government to focus on “putting audit and consumer disclosure rules so that the market can have confidence that the money is there.”

The Envisioned Role for Central Banks

Still, Brooks makes it clear that allowing private companies to be the issuers of stablecoins does not diminish the effectiveness of the monetary policy since any such tokens issuance is backed by dollars that are in circulation.

“Just like Circle and Coinbase have issued a stablecoin and not the Federal Reserve…. still that stablecoin is issued with the promise that it is redeemable for a dollar.” All dollars in circulation are issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Brooks also clarifies that stablecoins issued by private tech companies cannot be more than the circulating supply because “you cannot sell the stablecoin unless someone gives you the dollar.”

When asked about the role of commercial banks in this setup, Brooks says he envisions the financial institutions “being nodes on these blockchains or themselves be issuers of stablecoins at some point.” This will be in addition to banks acting as depositories.

Contradictions

Meanwhile, the OCC acting chief appears to contradict the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he laments how the U.S. has been slow to embrace digital currencies. Powell recently said that the U.S. not very concerned about being the first to issue a central bank digital currency. Instead, he says prefers getting it right the first time.

However, pointing to the EU’s release of a stablecoin framework as well as China’s distribution of the e-RMB, Brooks asks:

The question is where is the U.S. in all this? It is not an answer to just say we are worried about AML.

Brooks explains that other countries are seeing “crypto and stablecoins in particular as a strategic advantage” and the U.S. “has not figured that out yet.”

Do you agree that the US government must not issue a digital dollar? Tell us what you think in the comments section below

The post OCC’s Brian Brooks Against Government Issued Digital Dollar – Supports Regulation of Privately Issued Stablecoins appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Source: Bitcoin.com
Original Post: OCC’s Brian Brooks Against Government Issued Digital Dollar – Supports Regulation of Privately Issued Stablecoins