John McAfee Cryptocurrency Presidential Campaign

John McAfee Will Run for President in 2020 to Promote Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC)–John McAfee, the controversial an outspoken creator of the infamous anti-virus program, is back in the headlines for another round of wild statements in relation to cryptocurrency. McAfee, who has made claims in the past that range from comically bizarre to rationally bullish, has now come out with his plans to run for president of the United States in the 2020 election.

Speaking with CoinTelegraph at the Malta Blockchain Summit on November 1, the tech founder revealed his intention and bid for candidacy in the upcoming election, albeit with ulterior motives. As opposed to turning his sights on becoming 46th President of the United States, McAfee views the campaign process as a prime opportunity to promote Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to the masses, stating that his platform will be that similar to that of current libertarian movement. However, he is confident that “no one will elect [him] as president,” continuing

“See, I don’t want to be president. I couldn’t be…no one’s going to elect me president, please God. However, I’ve got the right to run.”

McAfee reiterated that his intention is less about becoming the president or holding influence over the country in any political capacity. Instead, he views the opportunity to run and discuss policy a prime opportunity to champion the benefits of decentralized cryptocurrencies, a feature that could come to backfire for the industry with such an enigmatic spokesman at the helm.

Interestingly, McAfee did expand on why he is so enamored and supportive of crypto, despite being an already independently wealthy man following his creation of McAfee Antivirus Software. McAfee told CoinTelegraph that he was concerned with the concept of “personal freedom” and found that cryptocurrency provided a superb alternative for the fulfilling that degree of autonomy, with an presidential campaign allowing him to “talk about personal freedom and how cryptocurrency can help us achieve that.”

McAfee has talked about running in the 2020 election previously, but it was unclear at the time–or even now–whether the tech founder was planning to follow through with his claim. However, he does hold to his prediction that Bitcoin will reach $1 million by 2020 (ironically, the same year he intends to run for presidential election), but clarified that the price conversion to U.S. dollars may be made murky by what he perceives as an inevitable retraction of fiat dominance, stating,

“In five years time fiat will be on its last legs.”

McAfee’s has at times been maligned for his presence in the cryptocurrency industry. While the outspoken and brazen entrepreneur has always been supportive of Bitcoin and the altcoin market, his ultimate motivation has been called into question, particularly in relation to the Twitter promotion campaigns that took place at the end of 2017 and throughout the first half of this year. In June 2018, McAfee announced that he would no longer be promoting cryptocurrencies on his Twitter account, after admitting to charging over $100,000 to market specific cryptocurrencies as investment choices. His current claims in relation to running for the presidential candidacy are likewise drawing mixed reviews, as some wonder whether this another attempt at self-promotion as opposed to turning the spotlight on the cryptocurrency industry–attention that may go unwanted given the context.