McAfee Conspiracy Theories Get Boost From Bizarre Instagram Post Tied to QAnon

John McAfee, the man behind the first commercial antivirus software and more recently a high profile investor in cryptocurrencies, died by apparent suicide in a Barcelona prison cell on June 23.

With McAfee's renegade lifestyle and his previous affirmation that he had no intention of committing suicide, conspiracy theories regarding his death have already taken on a life of their own.

McAfee had been arrested in Spain, charged with "tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns,"  That country was planning on extraditing him back to the US.

Social media users have posted "John McAfee Didn’t Kill Himself," and used the phrase as a hashtag.  The conspiracies were likely a result of an Instagram account that belonged to McAfee which posted a plain image of the letter "Q" (short for QAnon) minutes after news organizations reported his death.  It is unclear who had control of McAfee’s Instagram account when the "Q" image was shared.

QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory claiming that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles run a global child sex trafficking ring.  Some of the initial conspiracies surfacing suggest that McAfee was on the precipice of exposing high ranking officials tied to such activities.

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Dogecoin

‘Up until yesterday, I had been a millionaire’: This 33-year-old dogecoin investor refuses to sell despite losing over $167,000 in one day

Glauber Contessoto says that he invested over $250,000 in dogecoin on Feb. 5 with a belief that he’d become a millionaire — and on April 15, he did.  Contessoto invested when Dogecoin was priced at a mere 4.5 cents.

But on Monday, the top cryptocurrencies by market value — including bitcoin, ether and dogecoin — started to crash mostly brought on by crackdowns in China.

His holdings were down over $167,000 on Tuesday alone, he tells CNBC Make It, and his portfolio was worth $831,538.88 as of Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. EST, he says.

“Up until yesterday, I had been a millionaire,” Contessoto, 33, says. “If bitcoin and ethereum weren’t also [hit], I’d be worried.”

Contessoto said he was hopeful Dogecoin would move back up again.  He even bought more during the dips.

Contessoto is sticking to his original plan: He will sell 10% of his dogecoin holdings once his portfolio reaches a $10 million value, but will leave the rest invested, he says.

“People get caught up in the short-term and don’t have the patience to see the investment all the way through,” he says of his decision to hold.

Dogecoin was down around 7% as of Friday 6:30 pm ET.  Bitcoin was down 8% to just under $32,000. 

Money Laundering

Anti-money laundering a digital currency priority for US Treasury nominee

The nominee for U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said anti-money laundering in the digital currency sector was a top priority, as he awaits confirmation to the role.

“If I am confirmed, I will prioritize implementing that piece of legislation, including new regulations around cryptocurrency.”

Nelson had previously served as deputy chief of staff in the national security division of the U.S. Justice Department. His comments are seen as being in line with the official view from President Joe Biden and the current U.S. administration.  Source: CoinGeek