McAfee, the world’s largest security tech company, has experienced a massive cryptocurrency hack. Their founder and CEO took to Twitter to accuse the former company treasurer and his girlfriend of stealing a fortune in crypto. Here’s a look McAfee’s intense accusations, and the accused’s response.
McAfee Accuses Accountant of Stealing Millions
John McAfee, the famous founder of McAfee and a big advocate for Bitcoin, just made some bold accusations. Linking to his former employee Luke Jenkins’ and his girlfriend Gemma’s Twitters, McAfee tweeted:
.@gemcrypto and @paradigm2070, the top conspirators in the theft of over $62 mil in tokens from us, are trying to unload the stolen tokens. They are using https://t.co/Sed3yk0Nmg and HitBTC. Nearly every other exchange is cooperating with us. Why these 2? Are they also involved? pic.twitter.com/w5wsKAIOJA
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) August 24, 2018
In response to someone’s comment, McAfee added, “100% certain. Jimmy Watson, my CEO, lost more than anyone in the theft. He’s had a team of auditors tracking this for two weeks. He will publish a short statement this afternoon. Both people were caught last week trying to cut a deal with a well-known exchange to dump everything.”
At the time, John McAfee believed that they stole over $62 million. However, CEO Jimmy Watson later estimated that the actual figure ranges between $50-100 million, depending on the market.
What Happened (According to McAfee)
A little over a year ago, McAfee hired Luke Jenkins, an ex-convict, as treasurer. He has since left the company and gone back to England with his girlfriend Gemma (last name unknown), who is British.
They left with $50-100 million in stolen cryptocurrency, according to McAfee. Allegedly, Jenkins kept payments from hundreds of customers over the course of several months. He then laundered the money through several foreign cryptocurrency exchanges. Specifically, McAfee believes that Jenkins stole:
- 200 million CryptoSecure assets
- 45 million Skraps
- 3 million Eristica
- Millions of Docademic
- An unknown amount of Bitcoin and Ethereum
Not only are the charges against Jenkins and his girlfriend serious, but McAfee also implicated cryptocurrency exchanges TopBTC, HitBTC and Yobit. Supposedly, they participated in stealing Bitcoin Private, Sether and Bezop.
John McAfee has said that they have proof and will see Jenkins and his ‘two co-conspirators’ in court.
What the Accused Have to Say
Though the accused appear to have fled to England, Luke Jenkins’ girlfriend Gemma hasn’t kept quiet. She even responded to John McAfee on Twitter:
It's just part of the never ending Mcafee show. I left America because our visions and morals with crypto are very different. I've seen too much and they don't want me in the space. I expected something like this. It's like a soap opera! (Tweeted from my prison cell🤦🏼♀️)
— Gem (@GemCrypto) August 24, 2018
Gemma has also shared messages of support from Twitter followers who don’t believe McAfee’s accusations.
Top 6 DM's since the saga. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/LcyGCskSP8
— Gem (@GemCrypto) August 25, 2018
Did a McAfee Accountant Steal Millions?
We might have to wait for this cryptocurrency crime to go to court. This could be in the near future, because McAfee is deadset on prosecuting. By comparison, one of the accused makes light of the whole incident, chocking it up to ‘social media’.
But one thing is for sure: Everyone will have some serious doubts about McAfee security. Furthermore, the last thing that the cryptocurrency community needs is more crypto exchange hacks. Considering that the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin fluctuates based on positive/negative news, according to Yale economists, this could affect the value of the third biggest cryptos.
Hopefully, this massive crypto theft won’t alter McAfee’s passion for Bitcoin. He once famously predicted that Bitcoin would reach $1 million by 2020. We agree. In fact, we think blockchain will be worth $700 billion by 2021.
Lot's of people asking me over the past two days whether my bet is still on (that I will eat my dick if Bitcoin does not reach $1 million by the end of 2020). ABSOLUTELY!!! It is a bet that I cannot possibly use. Use your heads people! Run the numbers that crypto folks well know.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) February 2, 2018