Eccentric cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee has seemingly launched a social media campaign against popular cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC, as it argued the company isn’t aligned with the community’s interests and isn’t “truly interested in helping the poor.”
Through various tweets, John McAfee declared war on HitBTC and started tweeting against the cryptocurrency exchange to his over 845,000 followers. His initial point was somewhat broad but called for a boycott on the exchange as it “has increased suffering for millions of poor people.”
The crypto exchanges have become the thing that we have originally fought against. Their power is immense. Hitbtc, for example, has increased suffering for millions of poor people who cannot afford the minimum buy-in since it is greater than their monthly income. Boycott them.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 28, 2018
In subsequent tweets John McAfee added that the exchange is “the worst,” and that the community needs to band together to “take down” centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Per TokenPay, a crypto project, HitBTC is currently charging over $500,000 to list a coin on its platform.
During his attacks McAfee noted that he will be the cryptocurrency exchange’s worst enemy, until it proves its set on helping poor people and, apparently, help improve access to “the only free healthcare in the world.”
.@hitbtc I will be your worst enemy until you prove that you are aligned with our community and are truly interested in helping the poor. You have not done shit to help access the only free healthcare in the world.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 29, 2018
Research on the cryptocurrency exchange shows that it’s clearly controversial in the community, as various users complain they aren’t being able to access their funds or their accounts. Some complaints date as far back as December.
As CryptoGlobe covered, the company is currently facing legal action from Karma Group, as it allegedly received 527 ETH, at press time worth over $233,000, for various services, including listing the project’s token. Per Karma Group, HitBTC didn’t go forward with its part of the agreement.
McAfee’s campaign against the exchange, however, seems to have been launched because one of the McAfee Crypto Team’s members, Jimmy Watson, using a Twitter handle called “McAfeeExecutive,” saw his account get frozen by the exchange.
According to Watson, the exchange’s team reportedly called him to solve the problem. The move was seemingly not good enough, as he still labelled HitBTC “an unbelievable step backwards for the crypto community.”
My account has been frozen along with hundreds of people that write us everyday. Please take fair warning and do not use Hitbtc! What an unbelievable step backwards for the crypto community. https://t.co/OzHgWkWNCD
— J.W. (@McAfeeExecutive) June 28, 2018
McAfee, who recently “got real” about bitcoin’s price decline, is a well-known bitcoin bull. He recently partnered with Bitfi to launch what he called a “truly unhackable” cryptocurrency hardware wallet, which allegedly sold out hours after going on sale.
HitBTC itself has recently barred Japanese users from using its platform, as a response to requirements brought forth by the country’s financial regulator. HitBTC plans on launching a licensed subsidiary in Japan in Q3 this year.
